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Why?

Louisiana’s laws should affirm the rights of families to make medical decisions in consultation with their doctors, free from unwarranted restrictions.

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We are working to clarify protections for IVF treatments and practitioners to safeguard family-building options for generations to come.

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Learn more below on why we need to provide updated legal protections for fertility doctors and their patients. 

Louisiana State Capitol

Outdated Laws

The laws pertaining to IVF were drafted 39 years ago.

 

Medicine and the practice of IVF have greatly changed and improved over the last 39 years, making some aspects of the current laws inaccurate or completely obsolete

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Louisiana needs updated laws that can be applied in a common-sense manner to today's practice of IVF.

Scales of Justice

Legal Background

In December 2020, a patient at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Alabama accidentally destroyed several embryos. Two affected couples filed lawsuits against the clinic and the hospital, alleging wrongful death under Alabama's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. 

 

 The Alabama Supreme Court held in LePage v. University of Alabama at Birmingham Health Services Foundation (February 2024), that frozen embryos are considered "children" under state law. This allowed the couples to pursue wrongful death claims against the medical providers.

 

This ruling led to the suspension of IVF services by several clinics, as providers and patients grapple with the legal implications.

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Those legal implications include the fact that fertility care providers could be held civilly and criminally liable for murder if embryos are "destroyed". 

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In response, Alabama lawmakers enacted legislation granting civil and criminal immunity to IVF providers, aiming to protect them from potential legal challenges related to embryo handling.

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The Alabama situation underscores the need for proactive legislation to safeguard fertility care services. 

 

Louisiana Fertility Alliance is working to protect providers, their patients, and ensure Louisiana families still have access to IVF and fertility services as a path to parenthood

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Louisiana Fertility Alliance is a 501(c)4 organization. Donations are not tax deductible.

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