Health Care

La. IVF protection bill shelved amid dispute over definition of embryo as ‘human being’

The bill’s sponsor said she’d ‘rather pass something that is meaningful.’
Lab staff prepare small petri dishes holding several embryos onto a stand and adjust the small pipettes used to extracted cells from each embryo to test for viability at the Aspire Houston Fertility Institute in vitro fertilization lab Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Legislation to protect in vitro fertilization providers in Louisiana died Wednesday amid a dispute over language that defined embryos as “biological human beings.”

Rep. Paula Davis (R), the bill’s sponsor, opted to shelve the proposal because it wouldn’t go far enough to protect patients in the form that was passed by the House and Senate.

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