Latest news with #LehmanFranklin
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Georgia lawmaker ‘super happy' after IVF bill passes state Senate, heads back to House
Georgia families seeking in vitro fertilization could soon see it protected under state law. The state Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill on Thursday with some small changes. Families that use IVF, including one in the Senate, are overjoyed. Lorie Franklin can forgive her husband, Statesboro Republican Lehman Franklin, because he's been busy getting legal protection for in vitro fertilization passed through the General Assembly. Their little girl is due in May, and she was conceived through IVF. So, they have a personal stake in this legislation. 'We're not quite ready. We've still got some things to do. But he's been so busy, but she's due on May 27,' Lorie Franklin said. Thursday, the state Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure, which codifies IVF protections into Georgia law, protecting it from any potential future bills like HB 441, which would ban and criminalize abortions. RELATED STORIES: Bill to protect IVF passes unanimously in Georgia House, now heads to Senate Lawmaker's journey with IVF leads to new bill in Georgia House of Representatives House Speaker Jon Burns says he's still committed to supporting IVF treatment in Georgia Trump has signed an executive order on IVF. Here's what you should know about the procedure 'Definitely, the process will be there for them. There won't be that fear of them not having the IVF process. That was our goal for this bill, so we're super happy about it,' Lehman Franklin said. When Alabama passed a similar measure, it inadvertently criminalized IVF, something House Speaker Jon Burns wanted to avoid when creating this measure. Savannah Republican state Sen. Ben Watson, himself a doctor, said this bill would guard against that. 'Putting this in code to allow that and to make sure that in law, recognizing the definition recognizes that it is something in this state of Georgia will be protected,' Watson said. The Franklins now say their toughest challenge is keeping their baby girl's name secret for now. 'We have a name, but it is a secret. But it is a girl. A lot of people come up to me guessing two, three times, every time they see me,' Lehman Franklin said. Georgia Democrats were 100% behind the bill. The bill now goes back to the House because the Senate changed it a bit. But with the House Speaker's support, it's expected to pass as soon as Friday.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Georgia bill to protect access to IVF treatment moves forward
The Brief Bipartisan Support for IVF Protections: Georgia lawmakers unanimously passed House Bill 428 (172-0), aiming to secure access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in state law. Focused Legislation: Bill sponsor Rep. Lehman Franklin kept the measure narrowly focused on protecting IVF, avoiding broader reproductive debates to ensure bipartisan backing. Response to Alabama Ruling: The bill follows an Alabama Supreme Court decision that halted some IVF treatments, creating legal uncertainty after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. ATLANTA - Georgia lawmakers from both parties took a major step toward safeguarding access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, passing House Bill 428 with unanimous support. The measure cleared the state House on Wednesday with a 172-0 vote, according to Georgia Recorder. What we know The bipartisan bill seeks to enshrine access to IVF in Georgia law, ensuring that residents can continue to pursue fertility treatments without additional legal obstacles. What they're saying State Rep. Lehman Franklin, a Republican and the bill's lead sponsor, emphasized the legislation's narrow focus on protecting IVF as it currently exists. He said broader debates on related issues should be handled separately to maintain bipartisan support. Franklin, who is expecting his first child with his wife after years of trying and undergoing multiple rounds of IVF, framed the bill as a personal and necessary safeguard for families seeking fertility treatments. The legislation comes in response to recent developments in Alabama, where the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are legally considered children, leading some clinics to halt IVF procedures. That decision followed the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, which has prompted legal uncertainty over reproductive healthcare across the country. What's next House Bill 428 now moves to the Georgia Senate for consideration.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Georgia House sends bill to protect access to fertilization treatment to state Senate
Statesboro Republican state Rep. Lehman Franklin said he and his wife (right) are expecting their first child after years of waiting, multiple rounds of IVF treatment and an attempt at adoption that fell apart late in the process. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder House lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a measure designed to protect access to in-vitro fertilization after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year created uncertainty nationally. The two-page bill puts into state code that 'individuals have the right to obtain in vitro fertilization.' It's a declaration that is currently lacking in Georgia law, and proponents argue the addition is needed to protect access to IVF at a time of volatility in health care. The bill, sponsored by Statesboro Republican state Rep. Lehman Franklin, passed unanimously Thursday, even winning over the chamber's most conservative members. Franklin avoided what he previously called 'satellite issues' that are often tied up with IVF, arguing that anything beyond protecting access to IVF as it currently exists should be taken up in a separate bill. Some conservatives have voiced concerns about IVF because of the unused embryos that are destroyed in the process. 'If you have concerns about the issues surrounding this, or you have ideas about it, or you don't know where you stand, you don't have to worry about this, because this bill doesn't go near it. It doesn't go anywhere to touch it. All it does is codify it and put it in the law,' Franklin said Thursday. 'So, you can all rest easy and vote 'yes' on this bill and feel good about it.' Franklin said he and his wife – who was in the House Thursday for the vote – are expecting their first child after years of waiting, multiple rounds of IVF treatment and an attempt at adoption that fell apart late in the process. Several other House lawmakers shared their own struggles to expand their family Thursday. Rep. Esther Panitch, a Sandy Springs Democrat, says her daughter's health challenges will cause her to need the assistance of the fertility preservation services that accompany IVF. 'I'm hopeful that the state won't stand between me and my future grandchildren,' Panitch said. The bill may be narrowly written but its impact is broad. Rep. Park Cannon, an Atlanta Democrat, emphasized the benefit to the LGBTQ community, such as lesbian couples who want to have a biological connection to their child. But Cannon also argued that state lawmakers could do more to protect access, especially considering Georgia's personhood law and what it may mean for embryos that are discarded in the process. She said Franklin's bill is 'really just the tip of this conversation.' 'Hopefully for legislators in this room, this is a moment for us to come together and to see families in real time as they try to family-make in many different ways,' Cannon said. House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican, had pressed for protections for IVF since last year. 'This may be one of the most important bills we consider during this session,' Burns said. Franklin told reporters after the vote that the bill is intended to 'get ahead of the curve' to make sure what happened in Alabama last year doesn't happen here. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were children and parents could claim civil damages for their destruction – a ruling that upended access to IVF there and unnerved the nation. House lawmakers passed two other fertility-related bills Thursday. One of them would require insurers to cover fertility preservation services for patients with cancer, sickle cell disease or lupus, and another would authorize certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform artificial dissemination. All three bills now move over to the Senate. The 2025 legislative session ends on Friday, April 4. Georgia Recorder reporter Ross Williams contributed to this report.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill to protect IVF passes unanimously in Georgia House, now heads to Senate
In vitro fertilization is one step closer to being protected under Georgia law. A bill to do that passed the Georgia House unanimously on Thursday. Both sides, Republican and Democrat, wanted to pass the bill to protect in vitro fertilization in Georgia law, no one more so than Statesboro Republican Lehman Franklin. After eight years of trying, his wife just became pregnant thanks to IVF. House Speaker Jon Burns asked him to carry the bill. 'It's been a beautiful thing to be a process, be in the process of, and I'm just thankful to do it,' Franklin said. Democrats and Republicans all chimed in with their support. RELATED STORIES: Lawmaker's journey with IVF leads to new bill in Georgia House of Representatives House Speaker Jon Burns says he's still committed to supporting IVF treatment in Georgia Trump has signed an executive order on IVF. Here's what you should know about the procedure 'Every family deserves the opportunity to bring life into this world when they are ready,' state Rep. Esther Panitch said. 'I think it is critical that legally we protect this right in Georgia as a part of law,' state Rep. Deborah Silcox said. The law codifies IVF protection in Georgia law to avoid what happened in Alabama, where its Supreme Court declared it illegal under that state's abortion law. It was almost unanimous, save for one holdout Woodstock Republican Charlice Byrd, but Democrats and Republicans finally convinced her to vote with the majority and it passed without a single no vote. 'Under the protection of HB 428, every Georgian who faces a challenge, the challenge of infertility, will have access to IVF which has made it possible for thousands of families to realize the dream of parenthood,' Burns said. Passing the bill was one of Burns' legislative priorities. It now heads to the senate.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Georgia House panel unanimously backs proposed state law to protect IVF procedures
Georgia lawmakers are considering a bill to enshrine the right to use in-vitro fertilization into state law. AntonioA bill aimed at enshrining the right to in-vitro fertilization into state law passed its first hurdle Monday, passing a House committee with a unanimous vote. 'I feel great. That went very well,' said the bill's sponsor, Statesboro Republican state Rep. Lehman Franklin after the vote. 'I expected it to go well because this issue, from the feedback that I've gotten, is a bipartisan issue. Everybody seems to love it.' In-vitro fertilization, or IVF, is a fertility treatment in which eggs are removed from a woman's ovary, fertilized in a laboratory and then implanted into a uterus and allowed to develop, or frozen for potential later use. Franklin said he and his wife are expecting a new daughter in June thanks to IVF, garnering smiles and thumbs up from committee members. Parents of children conceived through IVF told the committee their stories, including the heartbreak of lost pregnancies and failed attempts to conceive. Mom of three Andrea Kerr said she thanks IVF and her medical team for her now happy and boisterous home. 'In-vitro fertilization is more than the scientific protocols, medications, appointments, and surgeries,' she said. 'It's finally being able to hang the extra Christmas stocking on the fireplace mantle after saving it for one day just in case. It's decorating our nursery after the upstairs room sat dark and empty and cold for years. It's teaching my kids how to ride a bike. It's watching them barrel down the stairs on Christmas morning. It's cheering them on at their little league baseball games. It's singing happy birthday over a cake and watching your first born child blow out his candles.' The procedure is now legal in Georgia, but enshrining it in the law could help calm the nerves of providers, patients and advocates. During IVF, doctors typically gather and fertilize multiple eggs, and embryos that are not selected can be donated for research or allowed to thaw out and be destroyed, which some anti-abortion advocates say is philosophically equivalent to murder. Georgia's abortion law, which went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal abortion protections in 2022, extends the definition of personhood to include unborn children, which led some to fear the state would go after IVF clinics that allow fertilized eggs to be destroyed. Those fears were further stoked last year when an Alabama Supreme Court decision defined frozen embryos as children, temporarily shutting down clinics until the state Legislature passed a law to protect IVF. The bill's odds look relatively good. It has bipartisan support, and House Speaker Jon Burns said protecting IVF would be one of his top priorities this year. But a bill is not a law until it gets the governor's signature, and there's always room for the unexpected. Before this bill can become the law in Georgia, it will need to pass the full House. The deadline for that to happen easily is March 6, Crossover Day. After that, it will need to pass the Senate before the end of the session, April 4. Franklin said he feels optimistic about his bill's chances. 'If there's any debates or anything that anybody wants to talk about, I'm more than happy to sit down with them and have those discussions and talk to anybody at any time, but the reality is the issue is pretty clear, and the bill is very clear, so there's really not a lot of depth to go into there other than the human side of the issue.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
