NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4295
SPONSOR: Fitzpatrick (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to making it unlawful
to provide consideration for the donation of human eggs for scientific
research
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation would prohibit the sale or purchase of human eggs for
research purposes.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Amends section 4311 of the Public Health Law by adding a new section
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
JUSTIFICATION:
Current Public Health Law (Section 4307) in New York State prohibits the
sale and purchase of human organs but does not include eggs in the defi-
nition of "human organ." It is this loophole in current law which allows
reimbursement to women for their "time, burden and discomfort" in
providing eggs for research. Such amorphous terms mask a blatantly
commercial transaction that would not be permissible. with any other
human body tissue. This legislation would close the loophole in current
law and prohibit payments for the time, effort and inconvenience of
donating human eggs.
In June 2009 the Empire State Stem Cell Board voted to allow state
payments for the 'donation' of human eggs to be used specifically for
stem cell research. Payments are to be allowed not only for actual
expenses involved, but also for time, burden and discomfort. The Board,
without prior legislative authority or public input, approved contract
language to enable researchers to compensate women up to $10,000 for
each retrieval. In the October 5, 2011 edition of the journal Nature,
researchers from the New York Stem Cell Foundation detailed how eggs
donors have already been compensated $8.000 for oocytes used to generate
embryonic stem cells.
Subsequent to the 2009 Board action, Feminists Choosing Life of New
York, Inc. challenged the policy in court. The NYS Court of Appeals
refused to hear an appeal of the case in December 2011, necessitating
this legislative remedy.
In the current economic climate, large payments for oocytes will induce
low-income and college-age women who are struggling to put food on their
table and pay their bills. The number of women answering advertisements
for egg donors for infertility purposes has recently surged with the
economic and employment crisis.
Egg harvesting is rife with serious health risks associated with hormon-
al stimulation, some of which are still unclear, making informed consent
impossible. Vulnerable women should not be coerced into risking their
health and their lives for speculative science with no benefits to them.
No other state in the union allows eggs-for-research compensation. The
National Institutes of Health prohibits payment for women's eggs and the
National Academy of Sciences opposes payment of egg donors for research.
Federal guidelines governing stem cell research (effective July 7, 2009)
caution about the health risks and ethical implications of egg donation.
Payments to women for the extraction of their eggs crosses an ethical
line that New Yorkers should not be forced to finance. The human body is
not mere merchandise to be trafficked for money.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022 - A5608- Referred to Health Committee
2020 - A5860- Held in Health Committee
2018 - A7669- Held in Health Committee
2016 - A6583- Held in Health Committee
2014 - A3408- Held in Health Committee
2012 - A9412- Held in Health Committee
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4295
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FITZPATRICK, BARCLAY, BRABENEC, DeSTEFANO,
J. M. GIGLIO, MORINELLO, NORRIS, RA, TAGUE -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.
of A. MILLER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to making it unlawful
to provide consideration for the donation of human eggs for scientific
research
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 4311 to read as follows:
3 § 4311. Prohibition of valuable consideration for the donation of
4 human eggs for scientific research. 1. It shall be unlawful for any
5 person to knowingly provide or offer to provide valuable consideration
6 to any woman who donates a human egg for scientific research. It shall
7 further be unlawful for any advertising or publicity aimed at recruiting
8 donors of human eggs or encouraging donation of human eggs to include
9 any reference, express or implied, to the possibility of valuable
10 consideration for such a donation, although reference may be made to the
11 availability of reimbursement for actual expenses, as permitted by this
12 section.
13 (a) The term "valuable consideration" shall not include the reimburse-
14 ment of actual expenses incurred by the woman herself in connection with
15 the donation of an egg.
16 (b) The term "actual expenses" shall be defined as necessary expendi-
17 tures paid or incurred by the woman herself, including travel, housing,
18 and lost wages, but shall not include any indefinite or inchoate
19 expenses, such as inconveniences or burdens. Reimbursement may be
20 provided for actual and reasonable medical expenses incurred by an egg
21 donor who becomes ill as a direct result of the donation.
22 2. Any person that accepts the donation of human eggs shall maintain a
23 record of all expenses reimbursed to donors, containing information
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08422-01-3
A. 4295 2
1 about the date, amount, recipient, specific justification and documenta-
2 tion supporting each reimbursement.
3 3. Any person that accepts the donation of human eggs shall obtain
4 from the donor a certification that no valuable consideration was paid
5 to her by any person for her donation of an egg, except for the
6 reimbursement of actual expenses as permitted by this section. Such
7 certifications shall be required to be maintained by the person or enti-
8 ty in their records.
9 4. This section shall not apply to the procurement of human eggs for
10 the treatment of infertility.
11 5. Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a class E
12 felony.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
