Friday Legal Updates - Embryo Mix-Up, California Update, & Lawsuit over Donation to Stem Cell
TGIF! Today is short and sweet as I am on my way to ASRM. Blog posts on the conference to follow.
Schwarzenegger signed the bill, SB-54 by Senator Mark Leno (D), on Sunday, his office said. Leno's bill requires California to recognize marriages performed in other states where same-sex marriages are legal.
Supporters and people opposed to gay marriage have been in court battles for years, with voters in the state approving Proposition 8 in last year's election. Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition that defines marriage to be between a man and a woman.
The judge was asked to decide whether Ochsner should be prohibited from communicating with in-vitro patients who don't have lawyers. A ruling is expected next week.
Attorneys for two couples who are suing the clinic don't want other patients who may have been affected by the mislabeling practices to be allowed to communicate with Ochsner directly, unless they've been advised they may need to contact a lawyer first. A hearing was held Tuesday in the case of in-vitro fertilization labeling problems at Ochsner Medical Center that led the hospital to suspend its in-vitro program indefinitely.
The judge was asked to decide whether Ochsner should be prohibited from communicating with in-vitro patients who don't have lawyers. A ruling is expected next week.
Attorneys for two couples who are suing the clinic don't want other patients who may have been affected by the mislabeling practices to be allowed to communicate with Ochsner directly, unless they've been advised they may need to contact a lawyer first.
New York - Feminists Choosing Life of New York (FCLNY) filed suit Friday in New York State Supreme Court (Albany) to block the use of taxpayer funds to pay women recruited to donate their eggs for embryonic stem cell research.
FCLNY Executive Director, Wendy McVeigh stated: "New York State has the responsibility to protect women. Instead, the state is using taxpayers' dollars to entice young, economically vulnerable women to experiment in this medically risky procedure."
New York State is the first governmental entity anywhere in the U.S. to approve taxpayer money to pay women to undergo an invasive procedure to harvest eggs for embryonic stem cell research.
The legal complaint was filed on October 9, 2009 in Feminists Choosing Life of New York v. Empire State Stem Cell Board. In part, the complaint states, "The Payment for Eggs Program provides significant monetary inducements to women to engage in this painful and risky procedure, which in part disproportionately appeals to economically vulnerable women...(it)...fails to satisfactorily provide for informed consent and other safeguards to ensure adequate disclosure to women of the risks of egg harvesting."
