Georgia lawmakers are moving closer to enshrining access to in vitro fertilization in state law, a year after a court decision in neighboring Alabama put the legality of the procedure in jeopardy there.
State Rep. Lehman Franklin, a Statesboro Republican, said after he and his wife got married later in life, they had difficulties beginning their family. Through IVF, his wife is pregnant with a girl due later this year. On Thursday, the House unanimously supported a bill that would guarantee others could also use IVF to start their families.
“I would bet that there is no one here in this room that has not been either directly or indirectly affected by IVF,” Franklin said. “Everyone that I’ve been in contact with has had their own personal experience.”
House Bill 428 would amend the state health code to formally establish IVF as a legal right, preventing future restrictions on the procedure. It also defines the IVF procedure as it is widely practiced today, which supporters say will help eliminate any legal ambiguity.
Last year, an Alabama Supreme Court opinion sent the IVF industry into confusion when it ruled that embryos created using the process were “extrauterine children,” granting them the same rights as any other child in that state.
According to that decision, if embryos are destroyed, it would be considered the “wrongful death of a minor.” Alabama has since enacted a law that extends legal protections to fertility clinics if embryos are harmed.
The IVF process includes fertilizing an egg that can either be placed directly in the uterus or be frozen for future use. Oftentimes, unused embryos are discarded, given to other people seeking children or donated to science.
IVF has been widely accepted for decades; State data shows that more than 2,300 children were born in Georgia through IVF in 2021. But after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 — effectively allowing states to limit abortion access — some conservative lawmakers have passed abortion restrictions that legal experts said could also jeopardize access to the fertility procedure.
Georgia’s abortion law bans the procedure in most cases once a medical professional can detect fetal cardiac activity, which is typically around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. Georgia’s law also granted legal rights to embryos — often referred to as “personhood.” However, Georgia’s law specified that the embryo or fetus is an “unborn child” only when it is “carried in the womb.”
The IVF bill now heads to the Senate for its approval. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who presides over the Senate, has also said he supports ensuring access to the procedure.
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