This is our son, Jack.
Every time I look at him I remember the doctor telling my wife Robin and I that we had a one-in-a-million chance of conceiving a child.
Like so many other couples in America, we had experienced a family health issue that would make having a child very difficult and exceedingly unlikely.
You don’t know how hard it is to hear something so definitive, so final, until you’re in that situation. It was the end of a dream. To grow our little family. Our family that, like so many others, didn’t have the usual path to this point. The usual path that makes having children without medical help all but certain.
But regardless of what the doctor was telling us, we knew we would welcome a child with more love and care than I can put into words. If only we had the chance.
Thankfully we did have that chance, with In Vitro Fertilization or IVF. Thanks to that little miracle, my wife and I were able to welcome our beautiful baby Jack into our family.
And we’re not alone! More and more folks who can’t follow the traditional path to children have found their families through assisted reproductive technology. In 2022 alone, more than 2,300 babies were born in Colorado through fertility services. And across the country it was nearly a 100,000 families that year.
Now, so many families like ours are cherishing the sacred experience of staring into their child’s eyes. And of that child staring back.
Every family should have that same opportunity. But if MAGA Republicans have their way, Americans will be stripped of that freedom to grow their families and have control over their own bodies.
For me, it’s personal. It’s Jack. And it’s our family.
That’s why I voted this week in the Senate to protect the miracle of IVF for all Americans. I was joined by every Democrat in the Senate and a couple colleagues from across the aisle. But it wasn’t enough.
Republicans overwhelmingly voted against the bill, leaving millions of families in jeopardy.
Government doesn’t belong in a doctor’s office when a woman is making some of the most personal health care decisions about her body and her family.
You’re not free if you don’t have the freedom to decide when and how to have a family.
We’re grateful that Colorado is a safe haven for families making those decisions. Anyone who has been through fertility treatments or IVF will tell you it’s tough enough without also having your family turned into a political debate.
That’s why we’re going to keep bringing up this bill and voting on it until every American has their freedom to begin or expand their family.
That’s what this whole thing is about: family.