On Thursday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill that makes in vitro fertilization protected by state law.
The Alabama Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling that frozen embryos were human beings and that their destruction could result in wrongful death sparked concerns about in vitro fertilization procedures.
“We had to ensure that here in Georgia no family would ever have to question the access to IVF,” House Speaker Jon Burns said at the bill signing. “And that’s exactly what HB482 accomplishes.”
Rep. Lehman Franklin, R-Statesboro, who is expecting a child with his wife through in vitro fertilization, sponsored the bill in the House.
Since the Alabama decision, legislation protecting in vitro fertilization has been passed in other states. Including the right to contraception, the “Fertility Treatment and Contraceptive Protection Act” was signed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee last week.
Additionally, Kemp signed a bill requiring fertility preservation services to be covered by health benefit plans in cases where a treatment, like chemotherapy, could result in infertility.
“A cancer diagnosis is scary enough without the thought that that treatment you need to save your life could also take away the ability for you to have children,” Kemp said. “This legislation ensures patients undergoing chemotherapy or other life saving treatments will not lose the chance to grow their family.”
The signing of a bill ensured that individuals with disabilities would receive the minimum wage.
“Everyone deserves the chance to work and thrive and this bill ensures individuals with disabilities are properly compensated for that work,” Kemp said.
