In GOP runoff, differences over IVF restrictions
In GOP runoff, differences over IVF restrictions - Health - msnbc.com
SHANNON McCAFFREY
ATLANTA — Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Karen Handel and Nathan Deal differ on whether they'd support efforts to limit fertility treatments in Georgia, an issue GOP legislators pushed just last year and is a priority for the state's largest anti-abortion group.
Handel, who underwent fertility treatments herself as she and her husband tried unsuccessfully to have children, said she would oppose any move to place restrictions on doctors and their patients.
"I could never look another family in the face and say that I was going to do something that would take away their ability — their hope — of having a child," the former secretary of state told The Associated Press.
Deal said he's open to some common sense limits, but they must be worked out in consultations with doctors.
"We should not be creating life that is then going to be used for other purposes whereby it's going to be destroyed," Deal said in an interview with the AP.
"I'm not going to tell you that you can just arbitrarily say this many embryos versus that many embryos," he said.
At issue are IVF procedures in which doctors routinely fertilize more embryos than they plan to use for a single treatment cycle in the interest of giving couples their best shot at having a baby.
Georgia Right to Life, the state's largest anti-abortion group, wants restrictions, arguing that the procedures can lead to the discarding of unused embryos, which they see as the destruction of life.
The group says parents undergoing the in vitro process should "limit the number of human embryos created in a single cycle to the number to be transferred in that cycle."
Doctors say that's often unrealistic.
Depending on the age and health of the patient, it may take several rounds of treatment — and multiple embryos — to get pregnant. IVF costs between $12,000 and $15,000 a cycle and often is not covered by health insurance.
Dr. Andrew Toledo, medical director of the Atlanta-based Reproductive Biology Associates, said the state should avoid a cookie cutter approach that puts parenthood out of reach to all but the wealthy.
"Not every couple and not every patient is the same," he said.
Toledo said he is willing to take Deal at his word that he would only make changes after getting input from doctors.
"So long as it's a meaningful consultation," he said.
But Toledo also worried that restrictions — or the threat of them — could prompt those in the biotech field to leave the state.
Renee Whitley, a co-chairwoman of the infertility group RESOLVE , said Deal has consistently supported so-called personhood amendments in Congress that would define life as beginning at the point of fertilization. And she expects he would do the same as governor.
Whitley noted that, in the past, medical experts in infertility have testified before the state Legislature only to have lawmakers push forward with restrictions anyway.
Deal has been endorsed by Georgia Right to Life. The group's executive director Nancy Stith issued a statement reiterating her support for Deal, without directly addressing the fertility issue.
"Nathan Deal agrees with our position statements and has pledged to uphold the sanctity of human life — demonstrated by signing our candidate affirmation form," Stith said in a statement.
In 2009, Georgia legislators considered a measure that would have placed first-in-the-nation restrictions on the number of embryos fertility doctors may implant. "The Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act" was inspired by the birth of octuplets in California. It would restrict the number of fertilized embryos a woman could create and implant through in-vitro treatments.
Several key state lawmakers said they supported the thinking behind the legislation but that it needed more study to avoid legal challenges.
The bill evolved into one that would have restricted embryonic stem cell research in Georgia. It passed the state Senate but failed to move in the House.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, the Democratic nominee for governor, has called such legislation "crazy," saying it would harm Georgia's reputation and send cutting-edge companies packing to states where they won't have to worry about government restrictions.
Handel and Deal have each said they would not want to harm the state's ability to attract and keep high-paying biotech jobs.
"I don't think we ought to do anything that prohibits legitimate growth of business in our state," Deal said. "But by the same token, if it's done within the context of the sanctity of life and the protection of life, which I believe does begin at conception."
In GOP runoff, differences over IVF restrictions - Health - msnbc.com
SHANNON McCAFFREY
ATLANTA — Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Karen Handel and Nathan Deal differ on whether they'd support efforts to limit fertility treatments in Georgia, an issue GOP legislators pushed just last year and is a priority for the state's largest anti-abortion group.
Handel, who underwent fertility treatments herself as she and her husband tried unsuccessfully to have children, said she would oppose any move to place restrictions on doctors and their patients.
"I could never look another family in the face and say that I was going to do something that would take away their ability — their hope — of having a child," the former secretary of state told The Associated Press.
Deal said he's open to some common sense limits, but they must be worked out in consultations with doctors.
"We should not be creating life that is then going to be used for other purposes whereby it's going to be destroyed," Deal said in an interview with the AP.
"I'm not going to tell you that you can just arbitrarily say this many embryos versus that many embryos," he said.
At issue are IVF procedures in which doctors routinely fertilize more embryos than they plan to use for a single treatment cycle in the interest of giving couples their best shot at having a baby.
Georgia Right to Life, the state's largest anti-abortion group, wants restrictions, arguing that the procedures can lead to the discarding of unused embryos, which they see as the destruction of life.
The group says parents undergoing the in vitro process should "limit the number of human embryos created in a single cycle to the number to be transferred in that cycle."
Doctors say that's often unrealistic.
Depending on the age and health of the patient, it may take several rounds of treatment — and multiple embryos — to get pregnant. IVF costs between $12,000 and $15,000 a cycle and often is not covered by health insurance.
Dr. Andrew Toledo, medical director of the Atlanta-based Reproductive Biology Associates, said the state should avoid a cookie cutter approach that puts parenthood out of reach to all but the wealthy.
"Not every couple and not every patient is the same," he said.
Toledo said he is willing to take Deal at his word that he would only make changes after getting input from doctors.
"So long as it's a meaningful consultation," he said.
But Toledo also worried that restrictions — or the threat of them — could prompt those in the biotech field to leave the state.
Renee Whitley, a co-chairwoman of the infertility group RESOLVE , said Deal has consistently supported so-called personhood amendments in Congress that would define life as beginning at the point of fertilization. And she expects he would do the same as governor.
Whitley noted that, in the past, medical experts in infertility have testified before the state Legislature only to have lawmakers push forward with restrictions anyway.
Deal has been endorsed by Georgia Right to Life. The group's executive director Nancy Stith issued a statement reiterating her support for Deal, without directly addressing the fertility issue.
"Nathan Deal agrees with our position statements and has pledged to uphold the sanctity of human life — demonstrated by signing our candidate affirmation form," Stith said in a statement.
In 2009, Georgia legislators considered a measure that would have placed first-in-the-nation restrictions on the number of embryos fertility doctors may implant. "The Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act" was inspired by the birth of octuplets in California. It would restrict the number of fertilized embryos a woman could create and implant through in-vitro treatments.
Several key state lawmakers said they supported the thinking behind the legislation but that it needed more study to avoid legal challenges.
The bill evolved into one that would have restricted embryonic stem cell research in Georgia. It passed the state Senate but failed to move in the House.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, the Democratic nominee for governor, has called such legislation "crazy," saying it would harm Georgia's reputation and send cutting-edge companies packing to states where they won't have to worry about government restrictions.
Handel and Deal have each said they would not want to harm the state's ability to attract and keep high-paying biotech jobs.
"I don't think we ought to do anything that prohibits legitimate growth of business in our state," Deal said. "But by the same token, if it's done within the context of the sanctity of life and the protection of life, which I believe does begin at conception."
