OLYMPIA, Wash.-IVF treatments are protected under Washington State’s reproductive health care laws.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson released a statement assuring IVF patients and providers on March 19 following the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling that frozen embryos are children.
“IVF and other forms of assisted reproduction are protected under Washington law,” Ferguson said in his statement. “Washington voters passed the Reproductive Privacy Act three decades ago to guarantee protections for reproductive freedom — full stop.”
Fertility services were paused in Alabama after the court ruling and has raised concerns about the future of fertility treatments, including the freezing or destroying of embryos across the country.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, under Washington Law patients have access to the full range of reproductive health care — including assisted reproduction, such as IVF — and their decisions about that care are made privately between them and their health care providers, without government interference.
More information and resources concerning reproductive health in Washington are available through the Attorney General’s Office.