Bills aimed at protecting in vitro fertilization treatments in Alabama have passed Senate and House committees. This is despite the fact that their introduction was just a day before.
Bills don’t usually pass so easily. However, these ones have because state lawmakers are racing to respond to a state Supreme Court ruling. The ruling forces clinics to pause parts of treatments, leaving many families in limbo.
The quick pace means there could be new legislation restoring the IVF treatments could pass as early as next week. The ruling says frozen embryos are human beings, and it will hold those who destroy them accountable for wrongful death.
It effectively threw the state’s fertility clinics into chaos. Reproductive rights advocates urged state lawmakers to quickly provide guidance and shield IVF providers from potential legal liability.
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House Bill 237, sponsored by Republican Rep. Terri Collins, passed unanimously Wednesday afternoon. Simultaneously, a twin bill, Senate Bill 159, made it out of the Senate Healthcare Committee.
HB 237 went to the House floor Thursday and may pass as soon as next Wednesday. The bills will “provide civil and criminal immunity to persons providing goods and services related to in vitro fertilization except acts of omission that are intentional and not arising from or related to IVF services.”
If passed, both bills would apply retroactively. One of those who urged the passing of HB 237 said IVF made her current pregnancy possible. According to her, she froze her eggs at a younger age after getting a cancer diagnosis. “I’m living proof of why IVF is so necessary,” was her statement.
Additionally, Senate Bill 160, filed Tuesday by Republican state Sen. Larry Stutts, also aims to protect IVF providers from liability. However, it would not apply retroactively. It has also passed the Senate Healthcare Committee. Both Senate bills will head to the Senate floor, where a debate and vote will likely occur.
“My bill is, to the best of my ability, trying to say what you were doing a month ago, you can keep doing. End of discussion,” Stutts said. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey says she expects a bill protecting IVF treatments to pass through the state’s legislature quickly.
“Here in Alabama … we work to foster a culture of life, and that includes IVF,” Ivey said Tuesday. “The legislature is diligently working on addressing this issue as we speak. And I anticipate having a bill on my desk very shortly.”
Alabama’s Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall says his office will not use the state court’s decision as a basis to prosecute families or IVF providers.
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However, at least one lawmaker worries that other law enforcement officials could. Katie O’Connor, director of federal abortion policy at the nonprofit National Women’s Law Center, also weighed in with her opinion.
“What the Supreme Court of Alabama didn’t answer, but is certainly still out there and certainly on the minds of people who want to provide IVF, is whether criminal laws could be applied,” O’Connor said. “That is certainly a possibility and one that I think a lot of providers are unwilling to take the risk for.”
The Republican-backed bills seek to protect providers. But they do not address the issue of whether a frozen embryo is considered a human being, Democratic House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels said on Wednesday.
Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison is also concerned about the Senate bills, saying they would not offer fixes to the state Supreme Court ruling’s central question.
“Unless we redefine this, as far as whether an embryo is a child, and if we don’t deal with the elephant in the room that got us to this place, we’re going to be back here, and basically, we’re gonna be in limbo,” Coleman-Madison said.
Last week, Daniels introduced Alabama House Bill 225. It declares that “any fertilized human egg or human embryo that exists outside of a human uterus is not considered an unborn child or human being for any purposes under state law.” The legislation becomes effective immediately after it gains approval from both chambers and is signed into law.
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Daniels also introduced House Bill 240 on Tuesday, which would amend a part of the state constitution that supports the rights of unborn children to note that an extrauterine embryo is not an unborn child. The Alabama House Democratic Caucus unanimously co-sponsored that bill.
At the national level, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth has revealed she plans to bring the Access to Family Building Act to the Senate floor Wednesday, aimed at protecting IVF access and shielding providers from punishment for providing IVF services. On Wednesday afternoon, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi blocked quick passage of that bill.
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