A group of more than a dozen Democratic senators is asking the Trump administration to rehire a team of scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dedicated to conducting research on in vitro fertilization (IVF), which it disbanded in April.
The Department of Government Efficiency’s mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have gutted maternal and reproductive health programs.
Last month, the HHS laid off 10,000 people, a move that included the CDC’s six-person Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Surveillance team.
CDC’s ART Surveillance team has collected and analyzed information on nearly every IVF procedure performed in the U.S., including patient demographics and success rates, since the early 1990s. The team operated under a congressional mandate issued in 1992.
Thirteen Democratic Senators sent a letter addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday with a list of 11 questions regarding the firing of the ART Surveillance team. Senators asked when the department plans to reinstate the entirety of the ART team, how many of the team members were fired and how the agency plans to continue to monitor IVF data as mandated by federal law.
Lawmakers stressed that the HHS’s firing of the team will have “devastating consequences” for people trying to become parents.
“Because IVF is a complicated and expensive process, the American people deserve access to the best information possible to inform their family building journey,” senators wrote in the letter.
“Your actions threaten hopeful parents and families’ ability to access high-quality, safe and effective fertility care. The American people deserve assurances that their rights under the [Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act of 1992] will continue to be guaranteed, as Congress intended,” the letter continues.
The thirteen Democratic Senators who signed the letter are: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) and Jon Ossoff (Ga.).
President Trump has pledged to support IVF in the past and even referred to himself as the “fertilization president.” But the recent firings at the CDC, particularly to the ART Surveillance team, have made lawmakers and health experts alike question the president’s commitment to making the procedure more affordable for and accessible to Americans.
“Unfortunately, hollowing out National Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Surveillance System capabilities and capacity is consistent with Donald Trump’s deceitful and disingenuous rhetoric on IVF,” the letter from the senators reads.
HHS spokesperson Emily Hillard told The Hill that maternal health remains “a top priority” for the administration.
“As part of HHS’ efforts to streamline operation, these programs will continue under the Administration for a Healthy America,” she added.
Updated at 3:43 p.m. EDT
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