North Dakota proposed bill banning embryo freezing and limiting transfers

liz4paws · January 2013

I saw this on Resolve's FB site today and about blew a gasket.

If you live in ND, please please PLEASE call your legislators about this. It's insane.

Watch the video at the link below, it has far more info than the written article itself.

https://www.wday.com/event/article/id/74409/

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) -- A controversial piece of a abortion bill before the North Dakota Senate, has some couples and their infertility doctors fuming.

Senate Bill 2302 would limit the number of embryos a physician could transfer, and it would prevent a woman diagnosed with cancer, from storing embryos during chemotherapy.

Kathy Burgau, back in 1998, told the story of her cancer battle, hoping to have a family after chemotherapy, she had embryos frozen, so she could have children after cancer treatment. That was done here in Fargo, but this bill before the North Dakota senate tomorrow, does not allow us to freeze any embryos. It would make that illegal.

Dr. Stephanie Dahl, Reproductive Medicine Specialist: "If the bill passes, couples who want to freeze embryos before chemo, would have to go out of state. It is available now."

And not just cancer patients. The proposed bill would limit the number of fertilized eggs an invitro-fertilization specialist could transfer into a patient during that cycle to two eggs. It could financially and emotionally cripple couples trying to conceive by way of IVF

This does not allow us to freeze embryos and that is how most couples get pregnant.

Cassi Koldenhoven and her husband have been using IVF, trying to get pregnant. She says the proposed law would make it nearly impossible for couples like them to keep trying.

Cassi Koldenhoven/Using IFV to start family: "It would move a lot of patients elsewhere, or a lot of patients would not follow through with the process because of the expense."

Meantime, the author of the bill, says the whole point of this is, in her words, "concern for life, at all stages." And Kathy Burgau from 1998, freezing embryos meant a family after cancer.

The author of the proposed senate bill says it is patterned after similar laws in Germany and Italy. LIFE coalition of Fargo said it had no comment on the proposed legislation.

asilwhite · January 2013

OMG, that made me blow a gasket too!!! "Get your laws off my body" can apply here too I think!

Please if you live in ND, call your congressman/woman, senator, etc.

solisilou · January 2013

This is outrageous!!!

And the claim that this is patterned after similar laws in Germany is not true. I live in Germany. People undergoing cancer can for sure do IVF. In my first cycle I got 9 eggs fertilized. The woman next to me in recovery after ER was getting 3 embryos transferred, so although there is a limitation on the number of embryos that you can transfer, you can do at least 3. You can't freeze "embryos" but you can freeze fertilized eggs in the 2PN stadium which do not possess embryo status and you can do as many FETs as you want. I just did my third.

I bet the people trying to get this sh*it through never suffered from infertility.

BootsOrHearts · January 2013

That is crazy. What is wrong with people.

firesiren · January 2013

The author of this bill is an absolute ignorant piece of work.

Km672 · January 2013

Seriously, WTF is wrong with people?!

Live and let flucking live!!!

dede0726 · January 2013

I am going to go ahead and guess this was propesed by a man with a bunch of kids and grand kids that were conceived the good old fashioned way!! Ignorance is what this is!!

tptbabe · January 2013

One thing that really confuses me about this (maybe somebody can explain it to me? Or maybe it's in the video link, but I can't see it at work.)

If this is a pro-life proposition, what is the plan for "surplus" (not really sure what term to use here, so I hope I don't offend anyone!) embryos? Destroying them certainly wouldn't fit the pro-life agenda. Would they just not allow more than 2 eggs to fertilize?

liz4paws · January 2013

tptbabe:
One thing that really confuses me about this (maybe somebody can explain it to me? Or maybe it's in the video link, but I can't see it at work.)

If this is a pro-life proposition, what is the plan for "surplus" (not really sure what term to use here, so I hope I don't offend anyone!) embryos? Destroying them certainly wouldn't fit the pro-life agenda. Would they just not allow more than 2 eggs to fertilize?

It sounded like it was part of an anti-abortion bill. And they didn't address that, but you're right. I completely shuddered when the rationale behind this was to "Respect life of all ages" or something like that.

liz4paws · January 2013

dede0726:
I am going to go ahead and guess this was propesed by a man with a bunch of kids and grand kids that were conceived the good old fashioned way!! Ignorance is what this is!!

I only watched the video once, but if I recall it was actually proposed by a WOMAN! A woman who has never had issues conceiving, I'm sure but feels like she gets to play God and decide who is entitled to have children and who isn't. I'm Christian and I believe God would be disgusted if he knew people were not allowing his children to come to this earth in His name. This lady can go....._____fill in the blank herself.

Enchanted616 · January 2013

This is horrible. I don't understand where people get off making these choices for other people's bodies.

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