“For years, VA and DoD have enforced discriminatory policies harming service members and veterans,” said Sonia Ossorio, president of the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women, filing one lawsuit in Manhattan and one in Boston, together with the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic and the National Veterans Legal Services Program. “These members sacrificed for this country. They should not have to sacrifice their right to build a family.”

Currently, DoD and the VA healthcare policies state that service members and veterans can only receive access to IVF if they are legally married, have the ability to produce necessary sperm and eggs to build an embryo and their fertility is directly impacted by a severe injury, illness or service-connected disability.

The lawsuits claim that the current IVF treatment requirements are discriminatory and ask the court to declare the alleged discriminatory eligibility provisions unlawful. The lawsuits state that the current DoD and VA policies violate Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which grants due process and equal protection to everyone, alleging that the current policies discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, marital status and the cause of their infertility.

Ashley Sheffield filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston on behalf of a proposed class of veterans who are excluded from IVF access. Sheffield herself has been directly impacted by the IVF requirements in place by the VA. Due to injuries sustained during Sheffield’s service, she has developed issues that affect her fertility, qualifying her for the VA’s medical requirements, however, after seeking VA IVF services, she was denied due to being married to a woman.

“Like so many LGBTQ+ veterans, I honorably served in the Armed Forces, and I earned the health benefits that millions of veterans enjoy,” Sheffield said. “I’m shocked and disappointed that the VA is denying me and other veterans IVF benefits because we’re in same-sex marriages. We are entitled to equal treatment, and we should no longer be treated as second-class citizens.”

Sheffield’s case is not a singular experience, Lindsay Church, a non-binary NOW-NYC member, shared their experience in a statement at the press conference.

“My service came with severe injuries, leaving me disabled and unable to carry a child due to extensive damage to my ribs, sternum, spine, and torso,” Church wrote. “Despite my service-connected disability, my spouse and I do not have access to vital fertility treatments, such as IVF, because my disabilities are not to my reproductive system, and we are in a same-sex marriage.”

The VA only started providing IVF services in 2017, but with restrictions on who was covered delineated by Congress. Under pressure from rights advocates, VA has looked at loosening the rules but says Congress would have to enact the reforms. VA included such language in its 2023 budget plan, which would provide IVF to veterans who are single and in same-sex relationships, but the policy was not passed.

“We appreciate the VA’s proposal, but to our knowledge that budget proposal has not gone anywhere in this Congress,” said Yael Caplan, a representative from Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic. “So, if this Administration wants to stop unlawful discrimination, they can do so and stop enforcing these harmful conditions.”

NOW-NYC seeks revisions to this policy which include providing IVF services to same-sex couples, individuals who are single and access for individuals whose infertility has not been directly diagnosed as a result of military service.

The lawsuits specifically ask for the court to dismiss the requirements of marriage, the requirements to provide a sperm and an egg and the requirements that infertility be due to military services, citing these issues as discriminatory provisions.

“Ten years ago, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act because that heinous law treated same-sex marriages as invalid and dehumanized LGBTQ+ people,” said Michael Stefanilo Jr., a partner who leads the LGBTQ+ Civil Rights practice at the Boston location of Brody Hardoon, Perkins, & Kesten, LLP. “There is no excuse for the VA breathing new life into the bigotry that LGBTQ service members and veterans have faced for hundreds of years.”

More than 150 aircraft will take part, in all 50 states, to pay tribute to the first successful air refueling on June 27, 1923, 20 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, according to the National Museum of the Air Force. On that day, Army Air Service 1st Lts. Virgil Hine and Frank Seifert, flying a DH-4B — a two-seat, single-engine World War I biplane observation and bomber aircraft — passed gasoline through a gravity hose to another DH-4B piloted by Capt. Lowell H. Smith and 1st Lt. John P. Richter, accomplishing the first aerial refueling.

While the original mission of air refueling remains the same today, it is now done on a global scale. The flyovers Tuesday are one piece of the Air Mobility Command’s “100 Years of Air Refueling” campaign, created to educate the public about the vital role that AMC and air refueling plays in supporting the U.S. military.

“Air refueling propels our Nation’s air power across the skies, unleashing its full potential,” said Gen. Mike Minihan, the head of Air Mobility Command. “It connects our strategic vision with operational reality, ensuring we can reach any corner of the globe with unwavering speed and precision. Air refueling embodies our resolve to defend freedom and project power, leaving an indelible mark on aviation history.”

In the Chicago area, at least two KC-135 Stratotankers from the Illinois Air National Guard’s 126th Air Refueling Wing and the Air Force’s 906th Air Refueling Squadron will fly over parts of the state beginning with a scheduled 10:22 a.m. flyover in Springfield.

They will then head to Gurnee’s Six Flags Great America, Evanston’s Baha’i House of Worship and Northwestern University, and Chicago’s Navy Pier between 11:04 and 11:13 a.m.

The aircraft will then head south along the Mississippi River, reaching St. Louis’ Gateway Arch at approximately 12:10 p.m.

In New York and New Jersey, the flyover will begin with one KC-135, 8 KC-46s and 6 C-17s departing from the 305th Air Mobility Wing out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The route of flight will be visible from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania landmarks. There will be two formations flying the route, approximately 20 minutes apart.

New York

• Ithaca, 1:23 p.m.
• Buffalo, 1:43 p.m.
• Niagara, 1:51 p.m.
• Rochester, 2:01 p.m.
• Syracuse, 2:14 p.m.
• Albany, 2:34 p.m.

New Jersey

• Asbury Park, 1:03 p.m.
• Barnegat Light, 1:10 p.m.
• Atlantic City, 1:17 p.m.
• Cape May, 1:25 p.m.
• Philadelphia Airport, 1:42 p.m.

In Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana, the flyovers will begin at Key Field Air National Guard Base in Meridian, Mississippi.

• Threefoot Hotel in Meridian, 9:15 a.m.
• Pascagoula, 9:45 a.m
• Waveland, 10:00 a.m
• The Vidalia Bridge, 10:30 a.m.
• Vicksburg National Military Park, 10:40 a.m.
• Mississippi State Capitol, 10:50 a.m.
• Arkansas Razorback Stadium, 11:55 a.m.
• Fort Smith, 12:10 p.m.
• Arkansas State Capitol, 12:30 p.m
• USS Kidd in Baton Rouge, 1:40 p.m.
• The Super Dome/Jackson Square, 1:55 p.m.

In Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. the 6th and 927th Air Refueling Wings will fly out of MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa.

Florida

• Cape Coral Bridge, Fort Meyers, 11:15 a.m.
• Tallahassee, 11:30 a.m.
• Key West, 11:45 a.m.
• Miami Beach, 12:20 p.m.
• South Palm Beach, 12:30 p.m.
• Tidal Cove Beach, Sebastian, 12:50 p.m.
• Interstate 4/Hwy 98 Intersection, Lakeland, 1:10 p.m.
• Skyway Bridge, St. Petersburg, 1:25 p.m.
• University of Florida Stadium, Gainesville, 2:40 p.m.
• Ocala, 2:45 p.m.
• Busch Gardens, Tampa, 3:00 p.m.

Georgia

• Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta, 12:30 p.m.
• Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, 1:00 p.m.

South Carolina

• South Carolina Capitol, Columbia, 1:15 p.m.
• Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, Charleston, 1:40 p.m.

In Alaska, the Air National Guard’s 168th Wing, will conduct KC-135 Stratotanker flyovers across the state starting at approximately 10:30 a.m. Times are listed on the wing’s Facebook Page.

The Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing will be flying over Sioux City at 9:50 a.m., West Lake Okoboji at 12:35 p.m. and Jack Trice Stadium in Ames at 12:55 p.m.

Iowa’s guard will also be flying over South Dakota and North Dakota. For South Dakota, check out the state capitol in Pierre at 10:25 a.m., the Badlands at 9:40 a.m., Mount Rushmore at 9:50 a.m. and Sioux Falls at 12:20 p.m.

For North Dakota, be at Theodore Roosevelt National Park at 10:20 a.m. and the state capitol in Bismarck at 11:40 a.m.

In Michigan, aircraft of the 127th Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Bse will be participating. The approximate times:

• Blue Water Bridge, Port Huron, 10:20 a.m.
• Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center and downtown Alpena, 10:40 a.m.
• Mackinac Bridge and Mackinaw City, 10:50 a.m.
• Sleeping Bear Dunes area near Maple City, 11:15 a.m.
• Downtown Grand Rapids, 11:45 a.m.
• Battle Creek Air National Guard Base and Battle Creek, 11:55 a.m.
• The Michigan State Capitol and downtown Lansing, 12:05 p.m.
• The Detroit River, 12:30 p.m.
• Selfridge Air National Guard Base, 12:35 p.m.

The Utah Air National Guard will perform flyovers across Utah, starting with an appearance over Utah State University at 9:40 a.m. and ending over Park City at 12:09 p.m.

For more details, check out your local news outlets or the Facebook pages of nearby Air Force and Air National Guard bases.

Citizens are encouraged to come out, watch and enjoy the show.