Georgia on my mind...

Have you guys heard about this in Georgia? I read it on FF (this is a letter from a girl's RE - she lives in Georgia) with links below to full text.

The Georgia Senate Health & Human Services Committee will hold a hearing on two bills: SB 169 and SB 204 this Thursday, March 5, at 9:00 AM in Room 450 of the State Capitol. At the hearing, the committee will hear testimony on the bills. Georgia Reproductive Specialists along with other Atlanta fertility clinics, RESOLVE and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) oppose both of the bills. The hearing is open to the public and you are encouraged to attend the hearing and send a letter to the Committee members before Thursday. To send a letter immediately, click here.

Senate Bill 169 would restrict doctors' ability to perform IVF in accordance with best medical standards. Here are the key provisions:

No more than 2 or 3 eggs could ever be fertilized in a cycle; if a woman produced more eggs, they still could not be used.
Only 2 embryos could ever be transferred to the uterus, unless the woman is age 40 or over (then a max of 3).
No extra embryos could be cryopreserved. If they are created, they have to be transferred.
No financial relief, such as insurance coverage, is proposed to help with the added financial burden of using less effective treatment. Patients will still have to pay out of pocket for less effective treatment.
Bans all financial compensation for donor gametes, such as egg donor, sperm donor, or embryo donation, which would reduce the pool of available donors in Georgia.

SB 204/HB388 is an embryo adoption bill. It would subject embryo donation to all the same provisions as required by law for adoption of a child. This would subject infertility patients needing an embryo donation to go through the judicial proceedings, home visits, and other procedures required for an adoption. We do not believe that such treatment is appropriate or needed for embryo donation.

If you care about open access to the best care possible to let the Committee members know before Thursday that you oppose these two bills. To send a letter or fax to the Committee, simply click here for a letter template that will be automatically sent to each of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee members. You can also call your state Senator even if they are not on the Committee and tell them you oppose these two bills. A full list of the Committee members can be found by clicking here, then clicking on the Senators name for a link to their direct contact information.

Please be respectful in all communications to the elected officials and their staff. Please remember that rude communications work against our interests.

Thank you for taking action today and showing the Georgia Senate that you care about open and available access to care for the women and men diagnosed with infertility in the state of Georgia.


Link 1

Link Two

What are your thoughts on this?

Re: Georgia on my mind...

my take is that some politician who has no idea about the costs of infertility and no idea about the process of infertility treatments has dreamed this up to make a name for himself and say see "I'm gonna make it impossible for another crazy Octomom to exist"

Re: Georgia on my mind...

I heard about this too. I am wondering if this started after the octomom story or this was already in place before that story broke. If this is a result of that, what a mess she made of it for others. I don't understand when they set a limit on how many can be fertilized. There is no control of that. I just don't get it.

Message edited 3/5/2009 11:49:55 AM.

Re: Georgia on my mind...

I have so many thoughts on this.

First, there needs to be standards of process and care in the industry. That will make insurance companies cover more of IF treatments. That's one of the main reasons many insurance companies don't cover it. Too much risk.

Second, stay out of my business with my doctor. Doctors take the hippocratic oath to do no harm and doctors that don't abide by their oath should have their license revoked. Stay out of my uterus and my medical business.

Lastly, I think we're dealing with a red state? Sounds like right to lifers are in on this and it just may be legislation drawn up by ultra conservatives. The whole embryo adoption laws are not warranted.

Re: Georgia on my mind...

What a bunch of cr*p!!
I had 36 embryos from my second cycle and ONE resulted in a pregnancy...do they realize the financial damage that could do to a couple.

Re: Georgia on my mind...

I was waiting for this post, because I was laying down watching the news last night and I was going to call you when I saw this.

I think that first of all, we all know you can implant 3 embryos of great quality and none can implant. You can implant 2 and wind up with triplets. Because one lady and doctor in California turned out 8 children through IVF, and it is causing a stir, it should not lead government to get further into our lives and legislate our medical care. I am thoroughly disgusted, because this is the classic schoolhouse mentality of punish everyone for the act of one.

Lawmakers do not understand IVF, the pain and struggles that go with it, or the individual patient and their personal struggles. If the government wants to put in legislation like this, then cover IVF. Simple. Because the costs can be prohibitive for so many families.

I am not personally going through IVF, but dear friends are and that is why this is very personal to me. I see the struggles so many wonderful and deserving women, right on this board go through and I think that a doctor and their patient should be the ones who decide how many embryos to implant, not some 60 year old man who sits on Capital Hill. JMO of course.

Re: Georgia on my mind...

This is completely ridiculous. They have absolutely no clue what is involved with IF and IVF. If they did they wouldn't try to pass such a idiotic bill.
That octomom is giving IVF a bad name.
Someone (like Oprah) should do a show on women experiencing IVF with multiple failures so people understand that IVF does not equal 8 babies.

Re: Georgia on my mind...

My only thought is, "Too bad they didn't stay a seperate nation after the Civil War!!"

Shawnna

Re: Georgia on my mind...

Re: Georgia on my mind...

We can all thank OCTOMOM for this!!

Re: Georgia on my mind...

This is disgusting.

Re: Georgia on my mind...