Alabama senator files bill to protect IVF services in state; hearings set for Wednesday

Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, stands on the floor of the Alabama Senate on Feb. 8, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

Alabama legislators Tuesday filed bills to protect in vitro fertilization programs from criminal and civil liability.

SB 159, sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, says that no criminal or civil action can be brought against entities or individuals providing goods or services related to IVF “except for an act or omission that is both intentional and not arising from or related to IVF services.”

“Hopefully we’ll open up back IVF clinics and get the process going for these ladies to be successful in their treatment,” Melson told reporters Tuesday.

HB 237, sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, was filed as a companion bill in the House. House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, filed HB 225 on Thursday, saying that embryos outside of the uterus are not considered “a minor child, a natural person, or any other term that connotes a human being for any purpose under state law.”

Daniels and other House Democrats Tuesday also filed HB 240, a constitutional amendment that would alter a 2018 amendment that says “it is the public policy of the state support and recognize the sanctity of unborn life.” HB 240 would add a line saying an extrauterine embryo is not an “unborn life” or “unborn child.”

Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, said after the Senate adjourned Tuesday that she had not seen Melson’s legislation, but she supported Daniels’ amendment.

“I think it would help clarify the issue and maybe hopefully move us forward because there are a lot of people that are that this is going to impact,” she said.

Coleman-Madison said that she had family members who have used IVF. She said the ruling had a broader impact than many anticipated and said people are now coming out of the “woodwork.”

“Little did people know that when they reversed Roe v. Wade, all the tentacles and how this is going to impact,” she said. “I’m hoping it’s causing us to think about things. Sometimes there’s just things you need to just leave alone and leave it to a person’s own personal choice and discretion, in particular when it comes down to a person’s body.”

Melson’s bill as filed is different from a draft version shared with media on Thursday. That bill referred to embryos as “potential life” unless implanted in the uterus. 

Melson told reporters that he took out the potential life language.

“Some people feel that we don’t need to go down that road when we’re determining when life begins,” he said. “I didn’t think it did, but I’m glad to take it out, and that didn’t change the the intent of the bill.”

Multiple IVF clinics have suspended their services in Alabama after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 16 that families could sue their clinics for destroyed frozen embryos under an 1872 state law allowing parents to file civil lawsuits over the death of children.

“Nothing about the act narrows that definition to unborn children who are physically ‘in utero,’” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in the majority opinion. “Instead, the act provides a cause of action for the death of any ‘minor child,’ without exception or limitation.”

Melson’s legislation applies retroactively, and would expire on April 1, 2025.

In reaching its decision, the Alabama Supreme Court cited a 2018 constitutional amendment that says “it is the public policy of this state to ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child in all manners and measures lawful and appropriate.”

That citation has caused questions about whether a law would be enough to address the Supreme Court’s ruling. Melson told reporters that he does not think that a constitutional amendment like Daniels’ is needed for this bill.

“If we need to, for other reasons later on, we can look at that,” he said.

Melson said he is anticipating five days, the minimum amount of time, for the bill to move through the legislative process.

“There’s been a whole lot of meetings on it and discussion,” he said. “I had no clue that this was this big an issue, not only for Alabama — I’m not surprised there — but throughout the country and internationally, it’s just been, we’ve been under a microscope with this issue. And so we just need to rectify it.” 

SB160, sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, was also filed Tuesday and says “Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, an individual or entity that provides services related to in vitro fertilization shall have criminal and civil immunity to the extent the individual or entity follows commonly accepted practices of providing in vitro fertilization services.”

Unlike Melson’s bill, Stutts’ legislation is not retroactive. 

Both bills were assigned to the Senate Healthcare Committee, which Melson chairs. The committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday at noon with the bills. Collins’ bill is scheduled to be in a meeting of the House Health Committee at 3 p.m. Wednesday. All three bills are marked as a public hearing. Daniels’ bills have not been scheduled for a hearing in Collins’ committee.

The post Alabama senator files bill to protect IVF services in state; hearings set for Wednesday appeared first on Alabama Reflector.