(Georgia Recorder) — A new bipartisan proposal would put protection for in-vitro fertilization access into Georgia code after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling temporarily shut down clinics there and created uncertainty nationally.
And for the bill’s sponsor, Statesboro Republican state Rep. Lehman Franklin, the issue is personal. Franklin and his wife are expecting their first child after years of waiting, multiple rounds of IVF treatment and an attempt at adoption that fell apart late in the process.
“You can imagine the emotional roller coaster that was up and down on this,” Franklin said in an interview Tuesday.
Now, he says they are ecstatic as they await the birth of their daughter, who was conceived through IVF and is due to arrive this June. And he wants to help protect access to IVF treatment so others can realize their own family-building dreams.
In-vitro fertilization may already be available now in Georgia, but that access is not protected in state code. Franklin said Tuesday he is still finetuning the wording of a bill that would add that protection and prevent access from being shut down in Georgia like it was in Alabama last year when its state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were children and parents could claim civil damages for their destruction.
“What this does is just put it down on paper to make sure that it safeguards it in the future, so that it clarifies everything, so there’s no ambiguity behind it,” Franklin said.
“That’s all it does. It doesn’t go into all the side issues and the distractions that could come from it,” he added. “All this does is just make sure that if a Georgia family wants to have IVF in Georgia, that they can have it. They have the right to do it.”
A nonbinding House resolution passed last year that signaled support for protecting access, but Franklin’s proposal would have the force of law. And it comes with the backing of House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican who has repeatedly said since last year that he supports shielding access to fertility treatment.
“Millions of Americans and Georgians are faced with infertility when they begin the journey to start or grow their families,” Burns said in a statement Tuesday. “We know that IVF has allowed thousands of Georgians to achieve the dream of parenthood, and this legislation ensures that access to this life-changing medical assistance will never be a question in our state.”
The bill is likely to have broad bipartisan support. Franklin said he collected more than 70 signatures on a version he circulated Tuesday morning, but he said later in the day that he planned to start over with recruiting co-signers on a revised version Wednesday. He said he plans to file the bill this week.
Rep. Shea Roberts of Atlanta said she was one of the Democrats who lent her name to Franklin’s effort.
“I know firsthand how devastating it is to desperately want a child and then be disappointed month after month when that dream doesn’t come true. Infertility impacts so many Georgians and I’m grateful we can agree that protecting access to IVF should be a priority,” Roberts said.
But anti-abortion advocates have voiced their concerns. Cole Muzio, president of Frontline Policy Council, a conservative group that is active on social issues, called the measure unnecessary.
“Republicans that would publicly affirm support for life at conception also need to wrestle with the reality that the IVF industry does not share that belief and routinely discards a catastrophic number of children made in the image of God,” Muzio said.
Lynn Goldman, president of the Georgia Fertility Network, which represents patients, doctors, lawyers and others involved in fertility treatment in the state, said protecting access to IVF is necessary.
“Right now, there is no protection for patients to access IVF in Georgia, and so this bill is securing that access,” Goldman said.
Goldman, who is also an attorney with a firm focused on fertility and adoption law, conceived twins through IVF treatment more than two decades ago.
“Many families depend on fertility treatment to build their family like I did,” Goldman said. “Having a law that protects access for patients allows those patients to realize their dreams of parenthood.”
She said there is concern that others may push for changes that would curb existing access, such as limiting the number of embryos created during the process – something that she said could lead to “an even more expensive fertility journey for people.”
But Goldman said she is hopeful that the bill’s sponsors can keep it focused on protecting access.
Franklin said that’s his plan. He says his two-page bill is narrowly focused on IVF access – and he intends to keep it that way. He encouraged anyone who would like to see the bill go further or address what he called “satellite issues” to file a separate proposal.
“You can get into the weeds and get distracted on all these other issues, and I’m not saying those issues should not be debated – they should, and I’m open to that – but this bill doesn’t pertain to it,” he said.
Another related bill, sponsored by Armuchee Republican Rep. Eddie Lumsden, would require insurers to offer fertility preservation services for Georgians whose treatment for cancer, sickle cell disease or lupus may impair their fertility.
