Fertility treatment bill goes to joint committee
Mollie Walker’s crash course in how a bill in the state legislature gets made was complete on March 5.
“That’s the day the bill was written and issued its Senate and General Assembly numbers,” Walker said. “It’s not the end goal, but knowing the amount of work that happened behind the scenes in talking with senators and state representatives and everything else that has happened to get this piece of legislation written made that moment exciting for me and so many others who’ve been involved.”
Walker, who is a banker from Collierville, is one of the founding members of Tennessee Fertility Advocates, a group designed to give couples struggling with infertility a place to go for encouragement and hear others’ stories while also advocating for the rights of those who struggle with fertility issues.
Walker and others spear-headed an effort to begin a movement beginning last year to advocate for insurance mandates for fertility treatment, and the effort has resulted in a bill that’s being sponsored in the state senate by Becky
Massey (R-knoxville) and in the general assembly by Dr. Sabi Kumar (Rspringfield).
The bill, SB 425/HB 1379, will go before the pensions and insurance joint committee for discussion first beginning next week.
“After hearing heartbreaking infertility stories from across the state, I’m proud to sponsor the Tennessee Profamily Building Act, SB 425,” Massey said in a statement. “This bill allows Tennesseans the opportunity to overcome a disease to build their families and help those struggling with access to care to get valuable treatment.”
Kumar said working on this bill helps increase the number of loving parents in the state.
“Despite the challenges of Parenthood in today’s society, parenting is a most wonderful adventure,” Kumar said. “Adults who wish to start a family but are not able to do so, because of medical reasons, deserve our help and support. I am touched by their deep commitment as they seek treatment for infertility conditions to fulfill their dream of having children.
“They will be wonderful and loving parents. Along with Senator Becky Massey, I am honored to provide legislative leadership so that medical insurance coverage can be obtained for infertility treatments. I am proud to sponsor the Tennessee Pro-family Building Act, HB1379.”
Walker said the bill as it’s written now would be different than others in the country as it includes malefactor issues in infertility treatment.
“This would make it the greatest profamily bill in the country dealing with infertility,” Walker said.
The bill’s short title is Tennessee Profamily Building Act.
“It’s great to see how much has been accomplished so far behind the scenes without a paid lobbyist,” Walker said. “This is an issue that affects one in six people in the state of Tennessee that are of reproductive age.
“It affects a lot of people who want to start families but can’t without help, and going through that process is costly financially, mentally, emotionally and physically. Getting this passed would be a huge help to a lot of Tennesseans.”
Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields @jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @Jseditorbrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.