Make Your Voice Heard!

I posted before about some laws up for vote here in AZ. Laws that mean pretty hefty things in the world of infertility.

I sent an email (and a fax, actually) to each and every representative in my state:

Dear Representative Meyer,


As a resident of the great state of Arizona I urge you to oppose two bills, SB 1306 and SB 1307, which will make it harder for couples with infertility to have a family.

I am aware of amendments that have been made to the bills, but THEY HAVE NOT BEEN "FIXED." They are still anti-infertility treatment and anti-family. I strongly oppose these bills and I will be watching how you vote.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) has been practiced in this country for almost 30 years, bringing more than 50,000 babies to overjoyed couples each year in the U.S. alone, and something approaching 3 million babies worldwide. This medical treatment is mainstream, medically proven, and accepted.

Donor egg treatment, similarly, has been practiced for more than 20 years all across the country. It is the standard of care for many couples, especially young women with premature ovarian failure and women who have undergone lifesaving chemotherapy to beat cancer. For such women, if they ever want to become pregnant and have a baby with their husbands, donor egg therapy may be their only hope.

Yet, suddenly the Arizona legislature has decided to single out these life-giving, pro-family medical treatments from among all others and subject them to a new regime of Governmental restriction. I urge you to oppose these bills.

SB 1307 harms us because:
-- it sends our doctors to prison if a microscopic embryo is "harmed;" this will drive doctors from Arizona and mean no hope for people with the disease of infertility;
-- it contains vague language which could be interpreted to limit treatment options such as embryo cryopreservation, a key tool in minimizing the risk of multiple births which can be unhealthy for mother and baby;
-- it stops progress on research to better treat infertility;
--- it makes it hard if not impossible for infertility patients to donate any unused embryos to research, which is the preference for many post-infertility couples;
-- it accords unprecedented protections to microscopic embryos (policed by the threat of prison for doctors) that could plainly interfere with the practice of IVF in Arizona.
SB 1306 interferes with donor egg treatment by:
-- imposing burdensome and inaccurate informed consent obligations on doctors who offer donor egg treatment;
-- threatening doctors with loss of their medical licenses and prison if they fail to follow the new informed consents to the letter;
-- limiting or outlawing valuable research involving eggs that could help treat infertility, and laying the groundwork for further restrictions by describing egg donation in dehumanizing terms.

If embryo cryopreservation is prohibited, Arizona will become the Triplet, Quadruplet, or Quintuplet Capital of the country, as women will be forced to transfer all the embryos they may produce in a cycle. Those high order multiple births will wreak havoc on health care costs, not to mention the poor maternal and child outcomes that would likely result.


Alternatively, in the absence of embryo cryopreservation, doctors could be restricted to allowing only a few eggs to be fertilized so only a few embryos are created in which case patients and doctors will likely just leave the state rather than receive substandard medicine at astronomic costs.

On behalf of the more than 100,000 Arizona citizens who are contending with the heartbreak of infertility, I respectfully urge you to oppose SB 1306 and SB 1307 when they come before the House for a vote.

Sincerely,
Hoping for Peas

You can do it, too.

Go Here to the Resolve site and follow the simple steps and they will send it for you!

And guess what else! I got a response!

Hoping for Peas,

I oppose both these bills and I am working very actively to defeat them. These bills will restrict treatment for women and force them to go to other states for their care. It will also deter infertility physicians from coming to Arizona to practice. Keep on advocating.


Thank you for writing,
Eric Meyer M.D.
Representative District 11
Education Committee
Transportation & Infrastructure Committee

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE follow the link and send a letter of your own! Pass the word on to your friends and family, and lets make our voices heard!!! Pin It