Alabama IVF clinics closer to receiving legal immunity with new bill progress

On Tuesday, Senate and House committees approved identical bills intended to provide some legal protection to in vitro fertilization clinics.

The approval of the committee puts the bills in position for a possible final passage on Wednesday.

After a Feb. 16 ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court, IVF clinics will be permitted to resume IVF services. As a result of Alabama’s wrongful death law, frozen embryos that are kept in storage have the same legal standing as children for purposes of liability. As a result of the legal risk, several clinics have suspended operations.

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The House and Senate passed similar bills last week, which were amended in committee Tuesday to make them identical. Families, doctors, and advocates rallied at the State House last week urging legislators to find a solution.

The sponsors of the legislation said that the legislation is intended to provide an immediate solution to allow clinics to reopen, but that lawmakers are expected to study the issues in order to determine whether more legislation may be required in the future.

According to Dr. Janet Bouknight of the Alabama Fertility Clinic, the bills that emerged from the committee would provide the assurances the clinic needs to resume services.

“As currently drafted, this gets us back to taking care of our patients,” Bouknight said.

According to Bouknight, who has been working as a fertility specialist for 15 years, the last few weeks have been difficult. It has been touching to hear patients come to the State House and share their struggles.

“Our work is to help people have a family,” Bouknight said. “And I am very hopeful that by the end of this week we’ll be back to being doctors. And our team is just motivated to providing the good care that we have done for all of the past years.”

Last week, HB237 sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, and SB159 sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, received strong bipartisan support.

Earlier this week, the Senate Healthcare committee approved the bill by a vote of 7-1 with two abstentions, while the House healthcare committee approved the bill by voice vote without opposition.

Democratic lawmakers proposed bills that would specifically state that embryos stored outside a woman’s womb are not considered children for purposes of state law, which directly addressed the Supreme Court’s majority ruling, which concluded that the frozen embryos were extrauterine children.

Three families who filed lawsuits concerning the destruction of embryos were ruled in their favor by the justices.