I received an email today alerting me to the fact that a group of Republican State Senators are backing a bill that would require the state to track any embryo created through infertility treatments. Here is a link to the bill in its present form: http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/51leg/1r/bills/sb1376p.htm
It also adds an amendment to create a state study of the practice of IVF and third party reproduction and determine if more regulation is needed.
I am researching this to find out what the possible motivation could be for the State of Arizona to require a separate registry to list information that is already reported to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology based on the Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certificate Act passed by Congress in 1992.
The law requires each assisted reproductive technology program to report annually to the CDC regarding pregnancy rates and whether their embryology lab is certified by the proper authority. The CDC publishes the ART Success Rates Report annually.
This seems like a blatant invasion of privacy, and a legislative effort to breach patient doctor confidentiality unless infertility patients are given a clear option to waive the reporting to a state entity that has no association with reproductive endocrinology that I am aware of.
Below is the email from President and CEO of Resolve: The National Infertility Association Barbara Collura.
Our daughter would not have given us 10 years of the most amazing memories and moments if IVF had not been possible. This bill would make it a CRIMINAL OFFENSE if the information is not reported to this new registry, which could discourage doctors from practicing IVF. THIS CANNOT HAPPEN.
I spoke to one of the sponsoring Senators offices today, Senator Barto, and could not get a knowledgeable response from Senator Barto’s assistant as to why this bill was even necessary given the infertility reporting practices that already exist within the framework of SART reporting.
Please send an email to your legislator following the links below.
The Arizona legislature has no business obtaining information about embryos created by fully consenting adults who using medical science to overcome medically verified fertility disabilities, and do so at their own expense, since Arizona does not provide any mandate for infertility insurance coverage.
The Republican Senators risk alienating a population of constituents who value and fight for life more passionately than couples who are able to conceive naturally.
Thanks for your support.
Yesterday the Arizona Senate Health Committee passed SB 1376, a bill that requires every embryo created as a result of IVF to be tracked and reported to the state government. In addition, SB 1376 sets up a “study committee” of state legislators to study IVF and determine if more regulation is needed.
We oppose SB 1376 and urge you to tell your state Senator that you oppose it too.
Please, we urge you to do the following immediately:
1. Send a letter to your Arizona state Senator. Send a personal letter or use RESOLVE’s online letter and personalize it. Click here for RESOLVE’s online letter.
2. Even if you send a letter, call your state Senator as well. Find the phone number here.
3. Urge your friends and family to call and write their Arizona state Senator.
4. Visit the KPHO website and view the story they wrote about this bill; please visit the KPHO Facebook page and post a comment about this bill.
5. If you are on blogs, Facebook, or online support communities, please talk about this bill and urge others to contact their Arizona state Senator.
The bill now moves to a full vote in the Arizona Senate and we need to reach every Arizona state Senator with the united voice of the infertility community telling them this bill goes “too far.” While the bill may seem benign, one of the bill sponsors, Senator Kelli Ward, told KPHO news that “there is no right to create embryos in a lab.” You cannot perform IVF without creating embryos in a lab. Therefore, the true intent of the bill sponsors is to take away the right of Arizonians to have access to IVF.
Let’s flood the Arizona state Senate with calls and letters about this bill. We cannot let them pass laws that chip away at our access to medical treatment for the disease of infertility.
Thank you for responding to this urgent request.
Sincerely,
Barbara Collura
President/CEO
RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association
P.S. Senators will only act if they hear from their constituents; please, don’t wait for someone else to do this, we need you to do this today.