Iowa Republicans on Thursday night passed a bill that implicitly protects the personhood status of an embryo in the eyes of the law, which critics contend will be detrimental to the practice of in vitro fertilization.
The bill passed 58-36 in the GOP-controlled state House, throwing the state into the midst of a national battle over protections for IVF, which began following a controversial ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court that identified cryogenically frozen embryos as “extrauterine children.”
ALABAMA IVF CASE: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CONTROVERSIAL OPINION
For it to be fully enacted, the bill will need to be passed by the Iowa Senate and signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA).
Critics of embryonic personhood statutes contend that they hinder the practice of IVF, which involves the creation of multiple embryos in a laboratory setting that are transferred into the mother after she has undergone hormonal treatment to improve the success of implantation. Most often, more embryos are created than will ever be transplanted into the mother, leaving them to be either cryogenically frozen or discarded based upon the patient’s wishes.
The text of the bill itself does not reference the term “embryo” nor mention IVF by name. Instead, the bill amends the state’s total abortion ban statute to prohibit the “nonconsensual causing of death of, or serious injury to an unborn person,” which replaced the language of “termination of a human pregnancy.”
Under the new law, it would be a felony offense to cause the death or injury of any unborn person, regardless of whether the embryo was inside or outside of a woman’s uterus.
Causing the death of an unborn person “without the consent of the pregnant person” would be punishable as a Class A felony, punishable by up to a mandatory life prison sentence without the possibility of parole. Unintentionally causing the death of an unborn person would be a Class B felony under the new law, punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
The Alabama case involved the nonconsensual destruction of five embryos following a person unaffiliated with the fertility clinic entering the cryogenics facility and accidentally dropping several frozen embryos. The parents of the embryos sued under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor statute.
On Wednesday night, Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) signed legislation that would give reproductive endocrinologists and other healthcare providers immunity from civil or criminal penalties for embryo disposal or destruction.
The debate over embryonic personhood has serious implications for the national discussion on abortion and contraception. Abortion is the top issue for 1 in 8 voters in the 2024 election, according to a recent survey from healthcare think-tank KFF.
“Iowa Republicans will stop at nothing to ban abortion, even if it means criminalizing people undergoing IVF treatments,” Iowa state Rep. and Democratic minority leader Jennifer Konfrst said in a press statement. “The Alabama-style bill Republican politicians passed this week goes too far and Iowans are tired of politicians taking away their reproductive freedom.”
“This bill diverts resources in time from addressing critical issues like maternal care deserts and health inequities and we should focus on policies that truly benefit Iowans such as accessible sexual and reproductive health care,” state Rep. Molly Buck said.
Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN and medical director for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion think tank, told the Washington Examiner that recognizing a fertilized egg as human life does not equate to the prohibition of IVF or other assistive reproductive technology.
“[An embryo] is definitely alive. It needs to be treated with respect,” Skop said. “And really, if we can just get the conversation back to how do we treat human life with respect, I think we would make a lot of progress in our discussion about abortion and also our discussion about IVF.”
