Infertility patients fear abortion bans could affect access to IVF treatment

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/07/21/ [login to see] /infertility-patients-fear-abortion-bans-could-affect-access-to-ivf-treatment
After battling with infertility for several years, Melissa says she finally saw a glimmer of hope through in vitro fertilization. She and her husband started working with a fertility center in Grand Rapids, Mich., in March 2021 and have produced and frozen several embryos.

Melissa hopes to eventually get pregnant for the second time this winter. But when the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade came down, she started to worry.

"I'm sitting here desperate for babies — desperate," she says. "And this can seriously impact whether I can grow my family, whether I can afford to, whether I want to risk it."

NPR has agreed to use only her first name because she's concerned about potential retaliation from abortion opponents.

Melissa's fear is that a Michigan law banning abortion (which is currently in legal limbo) could potentially put fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization, in jeopardy. People in other states with abortion bans or pending bans have similar worries.