Health Finance Commission considering bill prohibiting reproductive assistance for gays, lesbians, and single Hoosiers

Due to technical problems I’ll not bore you with, I do not have a functioning Adobe Acrobat on my home computer, so I can’t link directly to the proposed bill at issue. However, the Health Finance Committee page contains copies of draft legislation, presumably one of the documents labeled “PD” is the draft that Niki Kelly writes about in today’s Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Under the draft legislation:

Gays, lesbians and single Hoosiers would be prohibited from using medical science to help have a child.
. . .
the part of the bill raising eyebrows involves assisted reproduction.

It defines assisted reproduction as causing pregnancy by means other than sexual intercourse, including intrauterine insemination, donation of an egg, donation of an embryo, in vitro fertilization and transfer of an embryo, and sperm injection.

The bill then requires “intended parents” to be married to each other and specifically says an unmarried person may not be an intended parent.

A doctor can’t begin an assisted reproduction technology procedure that may result in a child’s being born until the intended parents of the child have received a certificate of satisfactory completion of an assessment required under the bill.

. . .

Some of the required information includes the fertility history of the parents, education and employment information, hobbies, personality descriptions, verification of marital status, child care plans, letter of reference and criminal history checks.

A description of the family lifestyle of the intended parents is also required, including individual participation in faith-based or church activities.

The Commission will vote on October 20 on whether to recommend the bill to the Indiana General Assembly.

I think Betty Cockrum of Indiana Planned Parenthood puts it very well, “If we’re going to try to put Indiana on the map, I wouldn’t go this route.”

Update Thanks to Indiana Barrister for the honorable mention and the link to the draft legislation. Analysis of the legislation below the fold.

The draft defines “assisted reproduction” as “a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual intercourse. The term includes intrauterine insemination; donation of an egg; donation of an embryo; in vitro fertilization and transfer of an embryo; and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

It defines “intended parents” as parents who enter into an agreement providing that they will be the parents of a child born by means of assisted reproduction or by means of assisted reproduction to a gestational mother. Parents are intended parents even if neither parent has a genetic relationship with the child. The term does not include an unmarried person. (Emphasis added.)

The proposed law applies to a child conceived by assisted reproduction as defined above unless the child is conceived by sexual intercourse, conceived by assisted reproduction where the “intended parents” are the sperm donor and the egg donor (keep in mind that an unmarried person does not qualify as an “intended parent”), conceived by a gestational carrier, or conceived by surrogacy.

An intended parent may petition a probate court for parentage only if the intended parents are married to each other. (It bears mentioning that gay and lesbian marriages are not permitted in the state of Indiana.)

A physician may not commence an assisted reproductive technology procedure unless the “intended parents” obtain an assessment from a licensed child placement agency. The assessment must require parents to provide the agency with information from both parents including family of origin, “values”, relationships, employment & income, hobbies and talents, “a verified evaluation of the intended parents’ marital relationship”, A description of the family lifestyle of the intended parents, include a description of individual participation in faith-based or church activities, hobbies, and other interests.

A physician or individual who proceeds with giving or obtaining reproductive assistance in violation of this law faces 6 months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. A person who makes a false statement in violation of the law faces a 1 year sentence and a $5,000 fine.

Unmarried individuals may not enter into an agreement with a gestational mother if the gestational mother is to be impregnanted by means of assisted reproduction. In addition, before parents may enter into a gestational agreement, the parents must go through an agency assessment which includes providing information on the parents’ participation in church-based activities, among other things.

I don’t know. Doesn’t sound like limited government to me. More like government small enough to fit into your bedroom.

I understand that our state legislators would prefer if every child was born into the perfect family. However, I see no reason to subject barren women (and those who love them but don’t want to marry them) to heightened standards simply because they have difficulty conceiving. Meanwhile, fertile, round heeled, trailer-trash girls can go around copulating with anything that moves, popping out kids willy-nilly without a whiff of state interference. Doesn’t sound like equal protection of the laws to me.