Dear Fellow Marylanders,

After over five decades in public service as Maryland’s Speaker of the House of Delegates, Congressman and U.S. Senator, my life’s greatest accomplishment will always be becoming a father. Raising our children has been the most difficult but rewarding experience for Myrna and me. Being a parent is hard, but for countless Americans, starting a family is even harder.  

Fertility challenges, like all health care issues, are extremely personal and affect more people than you might expect. One in 7 women in the U.S., of child-bearing age, have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy. Although it is sometimes seen as a “women’s issue,” it affects both men and women often for reasons outside their control.

Miracle treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF) have made the impossible possible. It has been one of the most successful and widely used forms of assisted reproductive technology that helps millions of people get pregnant. In Maryland alone, 4,206 infants were born in 2022 thanks to IVF. Bethesda residents Charlie Kerr and his wife are part of the IVF success story and recently shared their experience:

“Before I was married, I was diagnosed with a rare chromosome disorder. While my wife and I could conceive naturally, my condition made it so that only 1 in 8 pregnancies would end in a healthy baby. Couples with my condition often face double-digit miscarriages and sometimes fail to have biological children, something that has always been important to me. We were advised to consider IVF with genetic testing. Having recently ended my military service, I began to research my VA benefits, only to find that we were ineligible for coverage because my infertility was not connected to my service. As a Department of Defense civilian, my new employer – the federal government – did not offer coverage for IVF… To afford IVF, we delayed major milestones, like buying our first home. Over three years, we spent nearly $80,000 out of pocket to start our family…We are very fortunate that our dreams came true thanks to love, science, patience, and strength. We now have a brilliant two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and a happy one-year-old son thanks to IVF.”

In vitro fertilization makes having children possible, but it’s not fool-proof, it’s physically difficult, and is also incredibly expensive. I co-signed and voted for the Right to IVF Act to expand access to IVF and ease the financial burden for families struggling to start a family. This incredibly important reproductive rights legislation would establish a nationwide right to receive, provide, and cover this miracle treatment for families so they can have children even if experiencing fertility challenges.

Unfortunately, it was blocked by Senate Republicans – twice.

The right to IVF should not be a political matter; it is a medical procedure that Americans overwhelmingly support. I cannot understand why anyone would not want to protect the ability to use IVF. In vitro fertilization is the reason millions of parents experience the joy of having a child, but unfortunately, the hard-right is attacking IVF access, and the treatment remains inaccessible to many families because of its high cost.

Every American deserves the right to try to have a child, if they wish. They should have access to IVF and other resources they need to build the family of their dreams without fear or worry. IVF is part of the package of reproductive rights we need to protect.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, those opposing reproductive freedoms have consistently acted to restrict and ban access to all manners of reproductive health care even when the health, future possibility to have a child, and life of a pregnant person is on the line. Unfortunately, they’re having incredible success with devastating results.

Recently, two Georgia women who died as a result of the state’s abortion ban captured attention nationwide. Louisiana doctors are preparing for a dangerous law, which will take effect October 1 that reclassifies abortion pills, as “controlled, dangerous substances,” putting them in the same category as opioids. They also want to put IVF doctors and their patients in jail for seeking a treatment that provides hope for so many families.

This is truly outrageous.

Having a child is already an incredibly difficult experience, and any attempt to disrupt reproductive health care puts lives at risk. We will not let Republicans further strip women of their fundamental right to make decisions about their own bodies and continue to fight against these egregious attacks on reproductive freedom.

This week, the Senate Finance Committee led a hearing that put the Dobbs decision under a microscope and shined light on how it has exacerbated disparities and inequities in the reproductive health care system. At the state level, several states have enshrined abortion protections in their constitutions to counter the near-total bans in other states, including in Maryland where reproductive rights is on the ballot in November.

Reproductive care saves lives, can create life and is a family planning decision that should be decided by each individual family. This should have been settled a long time ago. But until we can codify these rights once and for all, we’ll keep fighting until every person has autonomy over their own body.

Thank you for your time. Please feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts on this topic or any others. If you and your family is an IVF success story, please reply back with a family photo and tell us about your journey.

In solidarity,

Ben Cardin