Republican-controlled Alabama House passes bill to protect IVF

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of legislation safeguarding in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments hold a rally at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Julie Bennett/File Photo

(Reuters) -Alabama’s Republican-led House on Thursday voted to advance a bill aimed at protecting the IVF industry after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children, prompting at least three Alabama providers to halt the fertility procedure.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 94-6. Three members abstained. An identical bill filed by a Republican state senator awaits a vote in the Senate, which is also Republican-controlled and could take up the measure on Thursday.

Grandma Audrey O’Neil, watches over 7-month-old Mason Deleeuw as his parents Peter and Meredith Deleeuw of Huntsville, lobby lawmakers for support of legislation safeguarding in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. February 28, 2024. Mason, was conceived after five rounds of IVF treatments for the Deleeuwes. REUTERS/Julie Bennett

Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, has signaled in previous statements that she would support the legislation if it reaches her desk. If passed by both chambers and enacted, the legislation would protect IVF providers from both criminal charges and civil lawsuits.

Supporters of legislation safeguarding in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments talk with Alabama State Rep. Troy Stubbs, at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Julie Bennett

The Feb. 16 Alabama Supreme Court ruling left unclear how to legally store, transport and use embryos, and some IVF patients sought to move their frozen embryos out of Alabama.

Republicans nationwide have scrambled to contain backlash from the decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, whose elected judges are all Republican. Democrats have seized on it as more evidence that reproductive rights are under assault.

IVF, or in vitro fertilization, involves combining eggs and sperm in a laboratory dish to create an embryo for couples having difficulty conceiving.

Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, a Democrat, filed a separate, more expansive bill to protect the IVF industry last week. The Daniels measure would prevent “any fertilized human egg or human embryo that exists outside of a human uterus” from being treated as “an unborn child or human being for any purpose under state law.” His proposal awaits a committee hearing.

Rachel Quattlebaum of Wetumpka, speaks with lawmakers accompanied by the group “Fight for Alabama Families” in support of legislation safeguarding in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Julie Bennett

The Alabama high court issued its ruling in response to three families’ lawsuits against a fertility clinic and hospital for failing to properly safeguard their frozen embryos, resulting in their destruction when a patient improperly accessed them.

The ruling was based on the state’s 2018 Sanctity of Life Amendment approved by voters that supports “the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.”

On Friday, the Alabama Attorney General’s office said it had “no intention” of prosecuting IVF providers or families who use their services.

A person wears a sticker reading ” Fight for Alabama families” as supporters of legislation safeguarding in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments hold a rally at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Julie Bennett

(Reporting by Julia Harte in New York; Editing by Nia Williams)