(The Center Square) – Nevada Democrats criticized Gov. Joe Lombardo this week for vetoing a bill that supports the right to in vitro fertilization.
Senate Bill 217 sought to enhance the availability of IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies. This bill would have prevented the state from implementing restrictions on these procedures and protected insurance companies from certain liability.
Furthermore, SB 217 required select health insurance providers to cover infertility treatments for a group with over 50 employees. Additionally, this bill sought to have Medicaid cover infertility treatments in 2027, pending participation from the federal government.
In his veto letter last week, Lombardo wrote, “There is no greater joy than becoming a parent.” The governor said he supported the efforts to make IVF “more accessible,” but the way SB 217 was written was not feasible because of a “new, unfunded mandate requiring coverage for IVF, including through Medicaid.”
“Without dedicated and sustainable funding this mandate is fiscally impossible considering the current posture of the state’s budget, specifically in terms of Medicaid resources,” Lombardo wrote.
“Because SB 217 would place an unmanageable strain on state Medicaid resources, I cannot sign it,” he added.
The governor encouraged relevant stakeholders to get together during the interim and discuss “alternative, financially sustainable, and equitable ways to expand access to IVF.”
In reaction to this veto, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, said the governor “turned his back” on thousands of Nevada families who need help “to overcome the hardships of infertility in order to experience the joy of parenthood.”
Cannizzaro was the sponsor of SB 217.
On X, last week, Cannizzaro had additional comments about the veto.
She said Lombardo “bowed to the pressure from far-right anti-abortion activists who want to outlaw IVF nationwide.” Cannizzaro also noted the governor “is picking out-of-state extremists over protecting Nevada doctors and patients.”
Democrats hold majorities in both houses of the Nevada Legislature, but lack enough seats to override the vetoes by Lombardo, a Republican.
Before Lombardo vetoed the bill, a group of pro-life supporters, mainly from Nevada and some from outside the state, sent a letter urging the governor to veto SB 217. The letter called the bill a “bioethical and fiscally untenable measure.”
Besides Cannizzaro, Attorney General Aaron Ford critiqued the governor’s decision.
Ford, a Democrat, said Lombardo “vetoed” the freedom for Nevadans to start a family. He added that SB 217 was a “straightforward, deeply needed bill that would have protected access to IVF and infertility treatments” in the state.
On X, the attorney general said Lombardo took a “more extreme position on choice than Donald Trump.”
“So let me be clear: I stand with Nevada families. I stand with individuals’ freedom to choose what their future looks like. And in this instance as always, I stand with moving us forward,” he explained.
The veto of SB 217 was just one of the 87 bills Lombardo vetoed this legislative session. This broke his previous record of 75 bills in 2023.
