In a historic first, a state governor has vetoed a bill that would have created a statutory right to in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, forcing public and private health insurance providers to cover the highly controversial procedure.

On Thursday, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R) vetoed Senate Bill 217, which would have mandated that health insurers in the state cover IVF by instituting a right to the treatments. Lombardo became the first governor in the country to veto a measure meant to enshrine IVF in state law. Currently, 13 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Utah) plus the District of Columbia require health insurance providers to cover IVF treatments.

IVF has been embroiled in controversy since the treatments first became available in the late 1970s. The process was devised as a method for infertile couples to conceive a child by artificially implanting a fertilized human embryo in the womb of the mother. But the procedure involves a host of ethical and moral quandaries, including the freezing and destruction of unused embryos and the abortion of undesired embryos that have already been implanted in the womb.

On Tuesday, a coalition of pro-life organizations — including Family Research Council, CatholicVote, Nevada Right to Life, and others — sent a letter to Governor Lombardo urging him to veto SB 217. The letter noted that “[a] recent study estimated that for every human embryo created through IVF and carried to term, nine are left behind. The remaining human embryos are usually either destroyed or left to languish in freezers, sometimes for decades, with no clear laws or regulations on what to do with them. Based on estimates derived from CDC figures, at least 1.5 million human embryos created through IVF are destroyed every year.”

The letter further pointed out that “[t]he IVF industry currently operates in a wild west, with little to no regulation or restraint on its activities. It is already legal in Nevada. The bill would allow IVF practitioners to operate with complete impunity and hinder the state’s ability to enact health and safety regulations to protect women undergoing what is already a physically and mentally taxing process.”

The letter went on to emphasize that SB 217 “is an unfunded mandate” that will cost the state “tens of millions per year, with expenses sure to increase over time.” The Daily Wire reported that the measure was “estimated to cost at least $38 million in its first two years.”

The legislation would also have shielded the IVF industry by denying personhood to a fertilized embryo, stating that a “human embryo that exists before implantation in a human uterus is not a person for legal purposes.” The language was inserted in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling last year stating that frozen embryos are children, and those who destroy them can be held legally liable for wrongful death.

The coalition letter recommended “far less expensive and fraught ways” to address infertility through restorative reproductive medicine that address the root causes of infertility as well as “promoting education on fertility awareness-based methods [and] reducing costs and eliminating legal barriers to adoption.”

Mary Szoch, director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity, expressed encouragement after the governor’s veto.

“All of us can agree that the cross of infertility is a heavy one to carry, and it should be met with compassion and love,” she told The Washington Stand. “At the same time, we have to recognize that IVF is not the solution to infertility. Rather than solve the problem that is causing infertility, IVF circumvents the problem, ignoring an unhealthy system and perhaps making it even more unhealthy in the process. Because of this, the IVF success rate is very low, with estimates showing that only 2.3% of embryos created through the IVF process result in a live birth.”

Szoch continued, “Moreover, IVF is extremely costly — both financially and emotionally — for couples going through it. Each round can cost around $15,000, and for couples who desire a child, the stress of the process is indescribable. Most importantly, IVF does not respect the dignity of the human person. Millions of embryonic children are destroyed or left to an uncertain fate in a freezer as part of the process. SB 217 was not a fiscally responsible, morally ethical, or medically expedient way to address the infertility crisis in Nevada.”

“I am grateful that Governor Lombardo recognized this and vetoed the bill,” she concluded.