Suit says California fertility clinic implanted destroyed embryos in patients

Lawsuit claims that clinic staff mistakenly cleaned incubator with lethal solution, destroying embryos before implanting them

Several couples are suing a southern California fertility center over claims that the facility staff destroyed their embryos in a “toxic incubator” and later implanted these embryos into the women who sought their services. So far 11 couples have sued Tennessee-based Ovation Fertility’s Newport Beach office, with more lawsuits expected to come down the line.

Ovation clinic staff is alleged to have mistakenly cleaned an incubator that held the embryos of dozens of patients awaiting implementation with hydrogen peroxide instead of the usual sterile solution. The use of peroxide created a “toxic incubator” that killed the embryos that were then transferred into the plaintiffs between 18 January and 30 January, none of whom became pregnant.

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Democrats cheer surprise win in Alabama special election for candidate vowing to protect abortion rights and IVF – live

Marilyn Lands’s victory suggests reproductive rights are key issue for voters ahead of Biden-Trump rematch in November

Disney and allies of Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, have reached an agreement to end a nearly two-year-long court battle that began after the entertainment giant spoke out against the state’s so-called “don’t say gay” law, the Associated Press reports.

DeSantis put his conservative policies at the center of his quixotic attempt to win the GOP’s presidential nomination, but ended up dropping out after getting pummeled by Donald Trump in Iowa’s January caucuses.

Allies of the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and Disney reached a settlement agreement on Wednesday in a lawsuit over who controls Walt Disney World’s governing district.

In a meeting, the members of the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District approved the settlement agreement, ending almost two years of litigation that was sparked by DeSantis’s takeover of the district from Disney supporters following the company’s opposition to Florida’s so-called “don’t say gay” law.

Our communities should not have to live in a state of fear and confusion, which is exactly what SB4 was designed to do. Unfortunately, Republican leaders in Austin are more interested in fueling anti-immigrant rhetoric than actually creating real, workable solutions to address our immigration laws.

While this back-and-forth can create a sense of uncertainty for the people who live here, this ruling makes me hopeful that the Fifth Circuit will follow clear Supreme Court precedent and rule against the law when it considers the merits.

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State of the Union address as it happened: Biden spars with Republicans and announces aid pier for Gaza

US president makes last State of the Union address of this presidential term, with much at stake as he heads into re-election fight against Trump

For some reason, expelled former Republican congressman George Santos has returned to watch the State of the Union from the House floor:

Axios reports he wanted to hang out with the lawmakers who voted to remove him from office last year for being a big-time liar:

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State of the Union guest list shows reproductive rights in spotlight after Alabama IVF bill signed into law – live

Guests at Biden address to include Alabama woman whose IVF was cancelled, and Texas women who went through abortion ordeals

More than a quarter of Black female voters describe abortion has their top issue in this year’s presidential election, according to a new poll.

The findings by health policy research firm KFF reveal a significant shift from previous election years, when white, conservative evangelicals were more likely to put abortion as their biggest priority when voting, AP reported. Those voters were highly motivated in recent presidential elections to cast ballots for Donald Trump.

Abortion voters are young, Black women – and not white evangelicals.

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US health secretary on Alabama’s IVF ruling: ‘Pandora’s box was opened’ after fall of Roe

Xavier Becerra says US must provide federal protections for reproductive rights if it hopes to avoid further restrictions

The health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said the US must provide federal protections for reproductive rights if Americans hope to avoid further restrictions on in vitro fertilization, contraception and abortion in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.

Becerra’s comments come in the wake of an Alabama supreme court decision that gave embryos the rights of “extrauterine children” and forced three of the state’s largest fertility clinics to stop services for fear of litigation and prosecution. The fallout from the decision prompted the Alabama legislature to hastily sign new legislation that will give IVF providers with immunity from civil and criminal suits, which the governor signed into law on Wednesday night.

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US Senate attempt to protect IVF access blocked by Mississippi Republican

Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith rejects Access to Family Building Act, saying bill is ‘vast overreach full of poison pills’

Senate Democrats’ attempts to move forward a bill that would have granted Americans federal protections for in vitro fertilization access have failed.

The bill, sponsored by the Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth, came after a recent Alabama supreme court ruling that declared frozen embryos are children and led to the closure of multiple infertility clinics across the state.

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Trump voices ‘strong support’ for IVF treatments after Alabama ruling

Republicans struggle to find a unified response to the state’s ruling that threw into question the legal status of human embryos

Donald Trump has voiced “strong support” for IVF treatments, days after a ruling by the Alabama supreme court threw into question the legal status of human embryos and several providers in the state cut off access to the procedure.

The former US president said that under his leadership, the Republican party “will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families”.

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Republican Josh Hawley’s anti-abortion arguments echoed in Alabama IVF case

Arguments that led to Alabama supreme court ruling that embryos are ‘extrauterine children’ similar to Missouri senator’s in 2013 case

Anti-abortion arguments made in the recent controversial Alabama supreme court decision, which led to the shut down of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in nearly half of the state’s clinics, echo those made by the Republican US senator Josh Hawley.

The Missouri lawmaker made similar arguments in 2013 and when he worked on the legal team arguing the “Hobby Lobby” case on contraception before the US supreme court.

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Embryo shipping services to halt business in Alabama after IVF ruling

Nationwide services say they will cease transporting embryos in and out of state following court decision deeming them ‘children’

Some nationwide embryo shipping services have indicated that they will stop transporting embryos to and from Alabama following the state’s recent supreme court decision ruling frozen embryos are “children”, according to a major infertility association.

In the week since the ruling, IVF clinics, auxiliary services and patients have grappled with whether they are able to legally operate. While the court’s decision recognized embryos as “children”, it did not specify how existing embryos should be handled.

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‘Outrageous and unacceptable’: Biden and Harris decry Alabama court ruling on IVF

President and vice-president speak out against ruling while Haley attempts to retract comments on embryos being babies

The decision of the Alabama supreme court on in vitro fertilization, granting legal protections to frozen fertilized eggs, drew fire from President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders on Thursday, laying responsibility for the decision on the US supreme court’s ruling overturning Roe v Wade in 2022.

“A court in Alabama put access to some fertility treatments at risk for families who are desperately trying to get pregnant,” Biden said in prepared remarks on Thursday. “The disregard for women’s ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable.”

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Nikki Haley says she believes embryos created through IVF are ‘babies’

Former UN ambassador and Republican presidential candidate expresses support for Alabama supreme court ruling

The Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has spoken in response to the recent supreme court ruling out of Alabama, revealing that she believes embryos created through IVF are “babies”.

In a new interview with NBC, the former UN ambassador expressed support for the Friday ruling by Alabama’s supreme court that deemed that frozen embryos are “children”.

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London hospital and Sheffield clinic affected by faulty egg-freezing products

Guy’s hospital and Sheffield clinic may have used faulty freezing solution that could damage eggs and embryos

Scores of women have been affected by the use of a faulty freezing solution at fertility clinics in London and Sheffield, with frozen eggs and embryos potentially destroyed as a result, the fertility regulator has said.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) confirmed the issue was limited to Guy’s and St Thomas’ assisted conception unit in London, and Jessop Fertility in Sheffield.

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Scientists call for review of UK’s 14-day rule on embryo research

Extending the limit could help uncover causes of recurrent miscarriage and congenital conditions, experts say

Scientists are calling for a review of the 14-day rule on embryo research, saying that extending the limit could help uncover the causes of recurrent miscarriage and congenital conditions.

Until now, scientists studying the earliest stages of life have been restricted to cultivating embryos up to the equivalent of 14 days of development. They can then pick up the path of development several weeks later, on pregnancy scans and from material donated from terminations.

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Call to help UK IVF patients donate unused embryos after shortage hinders research

Scientists complain after ‘sheer waste’ of human embryos discarded despite patients’ wishes

Leading scientists are calling for a change in the law to help IVF patients donate unused embryos to biomedical research after a collapse in donations over the past 15 years.

The increasing commercialisation of IVF, overstretched NHS clinics and cumbersome paperwork are blamed for a 25-fold decrease in the number of donated embryos. Scientists described some patients going to “extraordinary lengths” to ensure their embryos could be used for research rather than discarded, with many private clinics failing to routinely offer donation as an option.

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One in 18 babies born in Australia are conceived via IVF, latest data shows

The 102,157 cycles of IVF performed in 2021 was a 17% increase on 2020, with an average of two cycles for each woman

One in every 18 babies in Australia are now born through IVF, with a record high number of births recorded in the latest data.

The annual report from medical researchers at the University of New South Wales found a record 18,594 babies were born in Australia as a result of IVF treatment in 2021, with more than one in three women (37.1%) who completed their first cycle of IVF giving birth.

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‘Dramatic rise’ in number of women freezing eggs in UK

Experts say restrictions on socialising during Covid crisis may have led more women to seek to preserve fertility

There has been a dramatic rise in the number of women freezing their eggs in the UK, while more single people are opting for IVF, figures show.

A report from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) found that more people than ever are undergoing procedures, with egg- and embryo-freezing the fastest-growing fertility treatments in Britain.

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Overhaul UK fertility law to keep up with advancements, expert says

Exclusive: IVF in UK ‘is the most successful and the safest it has ever been’, says Tim Child

A leading fertility expert has said the law should be overhauled so that rapid advancements in reproductive science do not stall.

Prof Tim Child of the University of Oxford said IVF in the UK was “the most successful and the safest that it has ever been”, and noted that the chance of having a baby from a single embryo was rising and the likelihood of having multiple births dropping.

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Donor children could contact biological parents before 18 under new proposals

Existing UK fertility law should be updated to regulate modern treatments, says HFEA

Children born via sperm or egg donation would not need to wait until adulthood to find out more about their biological parents, under proposed changes to the law in the UK.

At present, donor-conceived children cannot obtain information about their biological parents until they are 18. But the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said the law should be updated so this information can be made available after the birth of a child, should the donor choose.

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IVF treatment faces ‘clear and present danger’ from US anti-abortion effort

Warning from reproductive rights advocate comes as US states pass or debate legislation that would give full rights to embryos

In vitro fertilization treatment is facing a “clear and present danger” and could be a “casualty” of some of the proposed anti-abortion laws that are emerging across the US, according to a key advocate of reproductive medicine.

The warning comes as US states, including Louisiana, have passed or are debating new proposed legislation that would give full rights to embryos, which in some cases means fertilized eggs, created in the process of IVF and not implanted in a woman, would have the same legal rights as children.

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Koala IVF could help save species from extinction

University of Newcastle scientists suggest frozen sperm could be used to impregnate females in breed-for-release programs

Freezing koala sperm could become a key part of a strategy to save koalas from extinction by 2050.

University of Newcastle scientists Lachlan Howell and Ryan Witt say koala “biobanking”, could be harnessed with IVF technology to help the endangered species reproduce.

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