HB 533 / SB 449

The “Fertility Treatment and Contraceptive Protection Act,” establishes a statutory right to contraception and fertility treatment in Tennessee law—including emergency contraception and in vitro fertilization (IVF). While framed as a reproductive healthcare protection measure, the bill opens the door to practices that conflict with Tennessee’s strong pro-life values.

Most notably, the law explicitly recognizes and protects:

• Emergency contraception, which includes drugs that may act as abortifacients by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg.

• In vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, which often involve the creation, selection, genetic testing, and destruction of human embryos—practices that devalue human life at its earliest stages.

This bill asserts that “an individual has a right to engage in activities associated with fertility treatment and contraception,” and that “the laws of this state do not prohibit” those activities. While it claims not to create entitlements to coverage or funding, it does codify these activities as protected rights, which could limit future pro-life legislation or invite judicial expansion in related areas.

By establishing these rights in state law, the bill sets a dangerous precedent:

• It blurs the line between contraception and early abortion, potentially shielding the use of abortion-inducing drugs from future regulation.

• It enshrines legal protections for the manipulation and destruction of embryos, undermining the principle that life begins at conception.

• It invites litigation against healthcare providers or institutions that refuse to participate in these procedures for moral or religious reasons.

Tennessee has led the way nationally in defending life, especially in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. This bill threatens to weaken those protections by embedding abortion-adjacent practices in state law under the guise of reproductive healthcare.