ASRM Washington Wire

States Lively this Spring
While this column is entitled, "Washington Wire", and usually focuses in on the activities of the federal government, this issue will feature some of the latest actions in the states. Political scientists often refer to the states as the "laboratories of democracy," places where policy makers can try different ideas and, if these ideas work, other states or even the federal government will adopt them. While there are some innovative state policies helpful to reproductive medicine particularly insurance mandates which expand access to infertility care- often the ideas floated by the states are bad.

Thousands of new pieces of legislation get introduced each year in the statehouses around the country, and most of them never get past the introduction stage. Most state legislatures are only in session for a limited amount of time each year, so traditionally, February, March, and April are the busiest times in our office as we monitor and weigh in on some bills. This year has seen the ASRM particularly involved in Texas, California. Maryland, and Delaware.
In Texas, we have been working to oppose HB 1703, a bill that would require patients receiving donated embryos to get a court order to adopt those embryos. We have pointed out to the legislators in Texas that adoption is a legal proceeding establishing the relationship between the adopting parents and an already-born child. Embryo donation, like sperm donation and egg donation, is an important therapeutic option which allows infertile couples to carry and give birth to their own child, thanks to the generosity of other couples.
A court order is not necessary to establish the parentage of a child born through embryo donation in Texas. The Uniform Parentage Act, Chapter 160 of the Texas Family Code, already provides that the mother-child relationship is established by the woman giving birth to the child and the father-child relationship is established by the man's consent to assisted reproduction by his wife. The Act includes embryo donation in the definition of assisted reproduction, and also establishes that a donor is not a parent of a child conceived by means of assisted reproduction.
In California, there are some in the state Senate attempting to fix a regulation which makes it difficult for HIV discordant couples to use assisted reproductive services. We have been working with the bill's (SB 443) sponsor to ensure that the wording is scientifically accurate and will maximize both patient autonomy and safety.
Stem cell research and cloning have been a popular topic of discussion in state legislatures this year; and, as usual, they are tending to get mixed up with ART issues. In Delaware, for example, HB 76, which sought to prohibit cloning, also banned something it termed "human/human chimeric embryo," which it defined as "an artificially produced embryo that is produced by combining natural or artificially made human genetic material with natural or artificially made genetic material of another species or of another human organism." In our letter to the Health Committee in Delaware we pointed out that sexual reproduction combines genetic material from two different "human organisms."
Bills banning egg donation or compensation for it, also appeared this year. In Maryland, the ASRM weighed in with opposition to SB 436 which seeks to ban egg donation for research and another bill which would have made illegal compensation for any egg donors.
There have been some more promising pieces of legislation, particularly relating to stem cell research. Iowa repealed its ban on somatic cell nuclear transfer research. Bills advancing stem cell funding are moving in a number of states, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland and New York. When you find out about legislation introduced in your state relating to reproductive medicine that could affect the practice of medicine, research, or patients' access to care, please let us know. You can contact me at 202-863-2494 or stipton@asrm-dc.org.

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