I wanted to clarify something from my update earlier this week in case there was any confusion. Although the SEBC did not vote on Monday as they previously indicated they would, this is NOT a bad sign. They wanted additional information about the financial impact of the bill before voting, so they are clearly taking this decision seriously and are carefully considering whether to adopt the bill.

We shared the petition with the committee, and a handful of state employees personally spoke about their own struggles with infertility. Both of these efforts were favorably received by the committee, and the people who spoke were thanked by various members of the committee. Although we would love for an affirmative vote to have happened already, we are excited that SB 139 is still on the table and that the committee is receptive to public outreach.

What does this mean for advocacy efforts? The petition will remain open until at least the September meeting, so please continue to spread the word and get additional state employees to sign. In addition, we are looking for state employees to attend the Sept 24th meeting at 2pm in Dover. Please email DEfertility@gmail.com if you are thinking about attending (no commitment by emailing, just let us know if you are thinking about it).

Thanks everyone for their efforts!