California Bill Would Increase Oversight Of Infertility Clinics

California Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod (D) has introduced a bill (S.B. 674) that would classify fertility clinics as outpatient facilities, allowing the California Medical Board to regulate the clinics, the Whittier Daily News reports. California Medical Board spokesperson Candis Cohen said that the board does not directly regulate sectors of the medical industry but that it works with accreditation organizations that monitor outpatient settings. Reclassifying fertility clinics as outpatient facilities would place them under the jurisdiction of the accreditation organizations, the Daily News reports.

The legislation was prompted by the recent birth of octuplets to 33-year-old California resident Nadya Suleman after in vitro fertilization. The medical board, which has the power to revoke physicians' licenses, is investigating Suleman's fertility doctor. Negrete McLeod said, "There should be a greater level of scrutiny over these clinics because of their increasing popularity."

Other Measures

Lawmakers in Georgia and Missouri also have introduced bills in response to the Suleman case. According to the Daily News, the Georgia bill (S.B. 169) is stirring controversy in the infertility industry and among abortion-rights advocates because it defines an embryo as "a biological human being who is not the property of any person or entity." The language in the bill "could be seen as a backdoor to fighting or preventing abortion rights and discouraging the disposal of unused embryos," the Daily News reports.

Sean Tipton, a spokesperson for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, which issues guidelines for infertility clinics, said that the industry's self-regulation is effective and has dramatically reduced the rate of multiples from IVF in the past decade. He added that increasing regulation would be "taking away a woman's right to decide for herself what to do with her own reproductive tissues" (Scruby, Whittier Daily News, 3/4).


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