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New York City is denying in vitro fertilization benefits to thousands of gay male employees of the city and their partners, a class-action lawsuit filed by a same-sex married couple alleged Thursday. Brooklyn-based couple Nicholas Maggipinto, 38, and Corey Briskin, 35, claim the city is discriminating against male same-sex couples and violating federal, state and local laws by denying them IVF insurance benefits that other city employees are able to access. (Javaid, 5/9)

The proposed class action was filed in Manhattan federal court by former assistant district attorney Corey Briskin and his husband, who say they were forced to put off having a family for years because the city's employee health insurance plan denied them coverage for IVF procedures. ... The New York City Council is considering a bill introduced in March that would require the city to cover IVF treatments for all employees, regardless of their marital status or sexual orientation. (Wiessner, 5/9)

A trial is underway in Virginia that will determine whether state law allows frozen embryos to be considered property that can be divided up and assigned a monetary value. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dontae Bugg heard arguments Thursday from a divorced couple who disagree over the ex-wife’s desire to use two embryos that they created when they were married. (Barakat, 5/10)

Leaders in the House and Senate declined to take up a bill this session that would have shielded medical providers at religiously affiliated hospitals and other health care centers who offer referrals and counseling on reproductive care, including abortions. (Carlesso, 5/9)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Democrats Seek To Make GOP Pay For Threats To Reproductive Rights

Democrat Lucas Kunce is trying to pin reproductive care restrictions on Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), betting it will boost his chances of unseating the incumbent in November. In a recent ad campaign, Kunce accuses Hawley of jeopardizing reproductive care, including in vitro fertilization. Staring straight into the camera, with tears in her eyes, a Missouri mom identified only as Jessica recounts how she struggled for years to conceive. (Liss, 5/10)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Their First Baby Came With Medical Debt. These Illinois Parents Won’t Have Another

Heather Crivilare was a month from her due date when she was rushed to an operating room for an emergency cesarean section. The first-time mother, a high school teacher in rural Illinois, had developed high blood pressure, a sometimes life-threatening condition in pregnancy that prompted doctors to hospitalize her. Then Crivilare’s blood pressure spiked, and the baby’s heart rate dropped. “It was terrifying,” Crivilare said. (Levey, 5/10)