Proclaiming April 20 to 26 as 2025 National Infertility Awareness Week in Wisconsin.
Summary
Senate Joint Resolution 56 proclaims April 20 through April 26, 2025, as National Infertility Awareness Week in Wisconsin. The resolution states that infertility is a disease affecting people of all backgrounds, cites the World Health Organization and American Medical Association, and emphasizes that individuals should have access to family-building options such as adoption, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and third-party reproduction.
The resolution also highlights barriers to care, especially the high cost of treatment and lack of insurance coverage, and frames awareness as a first step toward removing those barriers. In addition to the awareness proclamation, the resolution expressly affirms the legal right of patients with infertility to undergo IVF and other fertility treatments and rejects the concept of embryonic or fetal "personhood."
Impact
As a joint resolution, SJR56 does not create or amend Wisconsin statutes or directly change regulatory requirements. Its legal effect is primarily symbolic and declaratory: it establishes a state-recognized awareness week and expresses the Legislature’s position supporting access to infertility treatment, including IVF, while opposing embryonic or fetal personhood theories. The resolution may be cited in policy debates about reproductive health, fertility coverage, and related legal challenges, but it does not itself mandate insurance coverage or alter existing family-building laws.
Sentiment
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text is strongly supportive of infertility awareness and access to fertility care. The resolution is framed in inclusive terms, emphasizing that infertility affects people regardless of sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, or income, and it is backed by a broad group of Democratic senators and representatives. No committee discussion or recorded votes are provided, so there is no evidence in the record supplied here of formal opposition or amendment activity.
Contention
The main point of contention signaled by the resolution is the reference to antiabortion legal strategies that seek to recognize legal "personhood" for fertilized eggs, zygotes, embryos, and fetuses. By explicitly rejecting embryonic or fetal personhood and affirming the right to IVF and other fertility treatments, the resolution takes a position aligned with reproductive-rights advocates and infertility patients. Potential critics would likely come from antiabortion or personhood advocates, while supporters include infertility organizations, health care professionals, and patients seeking broader access to family-building treatment.