Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s administration has filed new legislation that would allow thousands of military veterans in same-sex marriages to receive in vitro fertilization therapy, which the federal Veterans Administration does not currently allow. Called the “Hero Act,” the legislation is set to receive a hearing in January.
Reports the Boston Business Journal:
“Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, and this transformative legislation marks an important step toward ensuring that Massachusetts supports them in return,” Healey said during the filing ceremony in November.
Meantime, a class action lawsuit filed by a Massachusetts veteran claims the VA unfairly denies fertility coverage to same-sex couples.
Massachusetts veteran Ashley Sheffield brought a claim in August in Boston District Court saying she and others in same-sex marriages are being unconstitutionally disallowed fertility coverage by the VA. A 2012 Defense Department memo limits IVF services to heterosexual couples.
“Like so many LGBTQ service veterans, I honorably served in the Armed Forces and I earned the health benefits that millions of veterans enjoy,” Sheffield said when the lawsuit was filed. “I am shocked and disappointed that the VA is denying me and other veterans IVF benefits because we are in same-sex marriages.”
“We are entitled to equal treatment and we should no longer be treated as second-class citizens,” Sheffield said. …
Healey filed her bill the first week of November. It proposes a major overhaul in veterans benefits. In addition to the IVF reimbursement for LGBTQ+ veterans, the bill calls for 17 spending, policy initiatives, tax credits and statute changes.
The Hero Act is slated for hearing before the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs in January. The chairperson of that committee, state Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, is also the author of legislation extending state veterans benefits to those who resigned or were forced out of the military due to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
