Does a bill to protect IVF in Louisiana go far enough?

A bill wending its way through the Legislature aims to protect in-vitro fertilization treatments in Louisiana—and prevent the state from going down the same road as Alabama, where a court decision equating frozen embryos to children temporarily halted care.

But even supporters of the legislation worry that, in its current form, the bill does not go far enough and could leave providers who accidentally destroy an embryo vulnerable to criminal prosecution.

This week, state Rep. Paula Davis, R-Baton Rouge, who sponsored House Bill 833, asked the Senate’s Judiciary A Committee to amend the bill so that it would remove language from existing law that describes an in-vitro fertilized human ovum as a “biological human being.” (An earlier version of HB 833 had already tweaked that language, changing “fertilized human ovum” to “embryo.”)

After a debate over whether life begins at fertilization or when an embryo implants in a uterus, that amendment failed to pass.

Because some Louisiana criminal statutes reference “human beings,” Katie Bliss, an attorney specializing in IVF contracts who helped craft HB 833, worries doctors could be entangled in criminal cases.

“In some of the homicide statutes…instead of a person, they refer to a human being,” she said. “That gives pause.”

Dr. Nicole Ulrich, a New Orleans-based IVF specialist who worked on the bill, said the team behind it is still hoping to strip that language to allow “full protection” for providers.

If the language were removed from the law, embryos would still have “juridical person” rights, a special status given to corporations that allows entities to sue, Bliss told the Senate committee. She added that current statute grants them those rights, and that the language describing embryos as human beings represented an inconsistency in the law.

Legally, once an embryo is implanted in a woman’s uterus, it is considered a natural person, Bliss said, adding that an embryo represented “the potential for life.”

But Louisiana has one of the most conservative, anti-abortion state governments in the country, and Bliss’ explanation didn’t sit well with Republican senators on the Judiciary A Committee.

This “could be a difficult definition for those of us that hold different positions on what an embryo is,” said Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge. “Many of us believe an embryo is life.”

Edmonds voted to reject the amendment, along with Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, and Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Many. It failed along party lines, with Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Pineville, and Sen. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans, voting for it.

The bill then eked its way out of the committee, with Seabaugh and Edmonds attempting to stop it outright. Mizell cast the deciding “yes” vote.

If it passes, IVF providers would operate under updated legal standards. Initially, the bill granted them immunity so long as they were acting “in good faith.” But after Bliss’ research concluded that was not a reliable legal standard, the bill was amended so that IVF clinics would be subject to the typical medical malpractice laws and standards of care that govern other types of providers.

The debate over IVF in Louisiana comes as the Texas Supreme Court considers a case that could hamper IVF care in that state, as the Texas Tribune has reported.