LANSING, Mich., April 1, 2024 — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the Access to Fertility Health Care package into law today. This nine-bill package, House Bills 5207–15, eliminates barriers to parentage in fertility health care, allowing Michiganders more ways to start and grow their families, and opens more avenues for legal protections for parents and children.
“As a father of three daughters, this bill package is extremely important to me,” said state Rep. Amos O’Neal (D- Saginaw), sponsor of House Bill 5215. “Michiganders deserve the choice to determine when, how or if they will grow a family. This bill package breaks down barriers to contractual surrogacy and strengthens safeguards to IVF.”
During a time when ongoing attacks on reproductive rights and freedoms — including confusion surrounding assisted reproduction methods like in vitro fertilization (IVF) — are escalating, Michigan Democrats are focused on continuing Michigan’s momentum on safeguarding access to fertility health care.
“House Dems are dedicated to continuing to protect Michiganders’ reproductive rights,” O’Neal continued. “With the U.S. Supreme Court taking up a case on mifepristone, which is used as part of a two-drug FDA-approved regimen for the majority of abortions nationwide, we know that the battle continues, and you can count on me to support reproductive health care and its accessibility.”
The Fertility Health Care package was first passed by the House of Representatives along straight party lines last year on Nov. 9 — every single House Republican voted against the bills. On March 9, the Senate passed the bill package. Michigan is not the last state in the nation to decriminalize surrogacy contracts.