Alabama Governor Signs Legislation Protecting IVF Clinics Into Law

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed a bill shielding fertility clinics and patients receiving in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments from civil and criminal liability almost immediately after it was sent to her desk by the Republican-controlled state legislature on Wednesday night, cementing protections for providers less than a month after the Alabama Supreme Court’s seismic decision to equate frozen embryos with children.

“The overwhelming support of SB159 from the Alabama Legislature proves what we have been saying: Alabama works to foster a culture of life, and that certainly includes IVF. I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF,” Ivey said in a statement, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

“IVF is a complex issue, no doubt, and I anticipate there will be more work to come, but right now, I am confident that this legislation will provide the assurances our IVF clinics need and will lead them to resume services immediately.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.