Dear Senator Melvin,
I called your office a few days ago and spoke to your assistant about my emphatic “NO” vote on SB 1376.
As a registered Independent mostly Republican voting Catholic, I am appalled that this bill has made it as far as it has. While I appreciate the state’s concern over “what is going on at IVF clinics”, the motivations behind the purpose and need for this bill need a great deal of clarification before any further action is taken on it.
I know you support the pro life position, as do I.
But I also support family building with the help of doctors for couples diagnosed with infertility (a disability covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act), without the interference of any state regulatory bureaucracy.
I can tell you from six years worth of gut wrenching experience with every medical procedure known to medical science that infertility patients value not only the creation of embryos in a lab, but often do more physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially to give these embryos the best chance at life than any person who is able to conceive naturally.
I know that you served our country and are fighting for many noble causes.
I am hoping you will add the following to your battle plan:
Vote no on SB 1376, and consider joining the effort to pass the Family Act of 2011, or give new life to it with a vote on the Republican side of the aisle.
Husbands and wives facing infertility don’t have the luxury of time. Biology works against them, and many of them have already put off child bearing plans in the name of being responsible financially, or waiting until their career has reached a certain level.
Our socioeconomic framework does not work in harmony with our natural biology. That is why infertility doctors are becoming such a necessary aide to becoming parents.That is also why SB 1376–a bill that could create delays as doctors scramble to add another reporting mechanism to the ones that already exist in their practices or face criminal charges–is so potentially harmful.
It could take away seconds, minutes, hours, days and months from a biological child bearing time clock. Even with the highest tech infertility procedures, age works against the rate of successful outcomes.
Infertility is not just a woman’s issue. Half of the hundreds of thousands of cases of infertility in Arizona, and millions across the country will include some element of male factor. I know because I was fertility challenged myself. That means in many cases, this is a couples’ issue, so there is double the support, or in the case of SB 1376, twice the opposition to anything that threatens to add to the myriad of challenges aspiring parents already face.
I also hope you will also consider supporting the Family Act of 2011 by adding you name as a Senate Co-Sponsor.
This bill would allow for a lifetime tax credit towards the cost of what amounts to about one In Vitro Fertilization, easing the financial burden on couples and giving them a better chance of success by moving to higher tech procedures with higher success rates, and less negative side effects.
I was disappointed to see so many “D”s next to the supporters of this bill last year, and so few “Rs”.
You have an opportunity to change the media image of Republicans as being out of touch with women’s issues, and appeal to their husbands who are often the ones writing the checks, praying that they will join the 25% to 50% of people who succeed from infertility procedures such as IVF.
I know that you believe that Arizona can become the premier state in the Union, and that you will do all that you can to make that happen.
I read on your website that you are an Eagle Scout and big supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.
Imagine how many future Boy Scouts you might meet some day if their parents continue to be able to achieve their parenthood goals without the state of Arizona creating any potential delays.
I know you’ll choose the right side of this fight, Senator Melvin.
And the right side, is to vote no on SB 1376.
Sincerely,
Denny Ceizyk