ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Thursday codifying into state law the right of women struggling to get pregnant to receive in vitro fertilization.
House Bill 428, which the General Assembly passed with just one “no” vote, was among a half dozen health-care measures the governor signed during a ceremony at the Savannah Convention Center.
The legislation’s chief sponsor was Rep. Lehman Franklin, RStatesboro, whose wife June received IVF treatment and is expecting a child next month.
IVF is a type of assisted reproductive technology (ART) to help couples conceive by fertilizing eggs with sperm in a labratory, and then transferring the resulting embryo into the uterus.
“(Families) deserve to have the chance to experience this great gift from God,” Kemp said before signing the bill.
The legislation was prompted by an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year that declared frozen embryos created through IVF must be treated as children. The decision essentially banned the procedure in that state until Alabama lawmakers passed a bill protecting IVF and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey quickly signed it.
“We needed to ensure that here in Georgia, no family would have to question accessibility to IVF,” said state House Speaker Jon Burns, RNewington, who made the IVF measure one of his top priorities for this year’s legislative session.
