Thirteen Democratic senators are questioning the DOGE-directed dismantling of the Reproductive Technology Surveillance and Research Team, which tracked the safety, cost and outcomes of the nation’s fertility clinics, saying it threatens “hopeful parents and families’ ability to access high-quality, safe and effective fertility care.”
They also asked when HHS would reinstate the team.
“The team was composed of deeply qualified and trained scientists, including statisticians, doctors, and people with advanced degrees in epidemiology and public health,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wednesday.
“Across the team, there were combined decades of experience and deep expertise in the complex field of assisted reproductive technology. The ARTS team was also a careful steward for decades worth of highly sensitive, personally identifiable information (PII) related to IVF procedures, including the medical history of both hopeful parents undergoing IVF and their children, demographic information, and more.”
The senators who signed the letter are: Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Patty Murray of Washington, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.