IVF and tech-assisted fertility treatments would be protected in New Jersey under new bill

A trio of Democratic legislators from South Jersey want to codify the right to technology-assisted fertility treatments in New Jersey, six weeks after conservative judges in Alabama declared frozen embryos are children and anyone who discards them can be sued for wrongful death.

Under a bill introduced last week, the right to assisted reproductive technology — including in vitro fertilization and other treatments in which eggs or embryos are handled — would be added to the list of reproductive rights New Jersey lawmakers codified in January 2022 in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. That June 2022 ruling ended the constitutional right to abortion that had been in place nationally since Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (D-Burlington), a prime sponsor of the legislation along with Assemblywomen Carol Murphy (D-Burlington) and Heather Simmons (D-Gloucester), said Dobbs was “an alarming moment and wake-up call” that long-protected rights in an increasingly divisive country are vulnerable and need protection.

“Every family should be able to grow their family when it’s their right time,” Katz said. “Politicians should not be in the room when families are making these decisions. We need to get our butts out of it. So this is just to make sure that we don’t have to endure what happened because of that draconian ruling in Alabama. Our families won’t have to worry about that concern here.”

The Alabama Supreme Court’s February ruling found that the state’s wrongful death law applied to “all unborn children, regardless of their location.” It drove fertility clinics there to pause treatments to sort out the legal implications and energized antiabortion advocates nationally in their push for fetal personhood laws.

The full Assembly last month passed a resolution, largely along party lines, condemning the Alabama ruling and affirming freedom of access to reproductive care, including in vitro fertilization, in New Jersey.

The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology estimated this month that 2.5% of all babies born in the U.S. in 2022 were conceived through in vitro fertilization.

If Katz’s bill passes in New Jersey, assisted reproductive technology would join abortion, contraception, sterilization, and other reproductive care as a civil right protected by state law. It awaits a hearing before the Assembly’s community development and women’s affairs committee. There is no Senate companion bill yet.