Oct 5 - A legislative commission in Indiana may recommend the state adopt strict new rules governing medically-assisted reproduction. The proposed legislation would bar unmarried people from having babies except through sexual intercourse and makes doing so – or even attempting to do so – a misdemeanor.
The Indiana Health Finance Commission, a 22-meember interim body composed of lawmakers from both state houses, is set to vote later this month on the measure prohibiting unmarried couples from using "assisted reproduction," a category that includes sperm or egg donation, intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization and sperm infection. The bill would require married couples to obtain state sanction entering into any "gestational agreement." If the commission passes the measure, it would likely go before the entire assembly in the next legislative session.
Indiana Planned Parenthood President and CEO Betty Cockrum told the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette that the idea is "chilling," and warned of "governmental intrusion into a very private part of our lives."
Same-sex and unmarried couples, as well as singles, would be legally prevented from using methods other than sexual intercourse to have a family under the legislation. In most cases, Indiana adoption law already prevents singles and homosexuals from adopting children, the Journal Gazette noted.
In addition to preventing people not in "traditional families" from using medical means to become parents, the bill would set a series of difficult, intrusive and potentially arbitrary standards that would-be parents must pass prior to approval of any artificial insemination procedures.
Potential parents will be barred from seeking – and physicians prevented from initiating – assisted reproduction services without a permit from a state licensed agency. Such agencies would be charged with investigating a number of things about both intended parents, including fertility history, education, employment, criminal history and participation in religious activities prior to issuing a permit.
Additionally, a prospective mother would need to present proof that she underwent psychological counseling before receiving medical assistance in becoming pregnant.
Potential parents would be required to pay for all licensing and other fees, the draft legislation notes.
The Indiana arm of the American Civil Liberties Union first heard of the proposed law from concerned members Friday, the Journal Gazette reported.
Language clarifying some aspects of state adoption and surrogate parenting laws are also included in the bill, but the bulk of the 22-page legislation is consumed with establishing rules to control infertile unmarried people’s ability to have children.
