I thought I was in the clear. Past all the emotional stuff of IF. And then...there was SB 169. So, I'm going to "come out of the anonymous closet" a little here and say that I live in Georgia. For those of you who need a little bit of background about this bill and what's been going on in this state, SB 169 is titled: Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos. It started out with some pretty offensive wording:
Senate Bill 169 would restrict doctors' ability to perform IVF in
accordance with best medical standards. Here were 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 greatly reduce the pool of available donors in Georgia.
To say I received a few emails about this, would be an understatement. I was bombarded. And I did was I was supposed to do. I emailed and faxed every senator in Georgia. So did thousands of others. And while the bill was changed so that most of the more onerous language was taken out, it would still have severely restricted our RE's abilities to safe and effectively treat infertility patients. Plus, the bill still gave gave embryos human rights. There is more...and if you want more details, let me know. Again, I did what I was supposed to do. I wrote, called, and faxed. I had my kids dressed and ready to go down to the capitol with me to meet with my senator and beg him not to vote for this bill. And then I got and email from my senator's aide telling me that he was one of the key speakers So I started thinking, why am I going down to the capitol? While it might be a fun adventure, and I might make quite a statement with my twins and 8 month pregnant belly, it might be a major pain in the ass to find parking and then walking a distance isn't that easy for me, plus, I would just be preaching to the choir. I didn't want to just give up if there was a chance I could do something good, so I decided to call the national RESOLVE office and speak with the director to ask her opinion. I called, and here's where I got the shock of my life: I could barely speak through the tears. I thought I was just calling as a concerned party, but one who was past all that emotional IF stuff. But as soon as I started trying to form words, the sobs wracked my body. The humiliation of everything that is a part of IF came back and then some. It's not enough that sometimes I feel like every medical professional in against the bill.Georgia has seen my vagina, now the government wants to be involved, too? Is there no dignity? Once I was able to compose myself, the director told me that I was right and there was no reason to go to the capitol and pull my senator out of the meeting since he has been a huge supporter of us. I hung up the phone with her shocked by my emotions and took some deep breaths. I was, and am still, shocked by the way I broke down. I really thought I was past it all. I am a mom. I am (G-d willing) having another baby in a couple of months. IF doesn't effect me anymore, right? I guess not.
**SB 169 was tabled and then changed, reintroduced and passed. I am waiting to get the next round of emails from RESOLVE to know what my next step will be.
