While new Republican-led proposed legislation is trying to direct federal funds to “restorative reproductive medicine” — a so-called “alternative” to fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF) — fertility physicians said there is no alternative to IVF and standard infertility care already involves a holistic assessment of a couple’s health.

The Reproductive Empowerment and Support through Optimal Restoration (RESTOREopens in a new tab or window) Act was introduced by Senate Republicans last month, including Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus. In a press releaseopens in a new tab or window, Hyde-Smith said she supports IVF, but families need options to treat the underlying factors of infertility.

The bill defines restorative reproductive medicine as “any scientific approach to reproductive medicine that seeks to cooperate with, or restore the normal physiology and anatomy of, the human reproductive system, without the use of methods that are inherently suppressive, circumventive, or destructive to natural human functions.”

The vague definition […]