Alabama governor signs bill shielding providers of IVF
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation into law Wednesday shielding in-vitro fertilization providers from potential legal liability raised by a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children.
The decision by the Alabama Supreme Court last month raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics and prompted an outcry from patients and other groups. Three major IVF providers paused services.
The new law protects providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution for the “damage or death of an embryo” during IVF services.
Republicans in the state Legislature proposed the lawsuit immunity as a way to get clinics reopened. They refused, however, to take up a bill that would address the legal status of embryos.
The state's three major IVF providers paused services after the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling last month.
The decision prompted an outcry from groups across the country. Patients in Alabama also shared stories about having embryo transfers abruptly canceled and their paths to parenthood put in doubt.
“I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF,” Ivey said.
Republican Sen. Tim Melson, the bill sponsor, said he was “just elated to get these ladies back on schedule.”
Doctors from Alabama Fertility, one of the clinics that had paused IVF services, watched as the bill got final passage. They said the passage will allow them to resume embryo transfers “starting tomorrow.”
“We have some transfers tomorrow and some Friday. This means we means that we will be able to do embryo transfers and hopefully have more pregnancies and babies in the state of Alabama,” Dr. Mamie McLean said after the vote.
The state Supreme Court had ruled that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their “extrauterine children.” The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics.
Republicans in the GOP-dominated Alabama Legislature looked to the immunity proposal as a solution to clinics' concerns. But they have shied away from proposals that would address the legal status of embryos created in IVF labs.
House Democrats proposed legislation last week stating that a human embryo outside a uterus cannot be considered an unborn child or human being under state law. Democrats argued that was the most direct way to deal with the issue. Republicans have not brought the proposal up for a vote.
“I think there is too much difference of opinion on when actual life begins. A lot of people say conception. A lot of people say implantation. Others say heartbeat. I wish I had the answer,” Melson said.
Melson, who is a doctor, said lawmakers may have to come back with additional legislation, but he said it should be based on “science, not feelings.”
The court ruled that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed when a hospital patient got into the storage unit at a fertility clinic and dropped the embryos could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their “extrauterine children.” A fourth couple filed a similar wrongful death lawsuit last week.
The bill says that “no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving services related to in-vitro fertilization.” The immunity would be retroactive but would exclude pending litigation. Civil lawsuits could be pursued against manufacturers of IVF-related goods, such as the nutrient-rich solutions used to grow embryos, but damages would be capped and criminal prosecution would be forbidden.