We’ve been saying for months now that the restrictions on IVF resulting from Initiative 26 would go far, far beyond simply affecting embryo disposition. This morning on the Gallo Radio Show, Dr. Eric Webb was kind enough to clarify this in more depth.
Dr. Webb is a pro-life Mississippi OB-GYN and a strong SUPPORTER of Initiative 26. Together with Dr. Freda Bush, he is the author of of the pro-26 side of the pro-con arguments published by MSMA.
In his comments on Gallo, Dr. Webb outright stated that restrictions on IVF would include telling physicians how many embryos they may attempt to fertilize, and that cryopreservation would not be permitted.
“The simple solution is that you don’t fertilize any eggs which you’re not willing to transfer…. No more than three. No cryopreservation.”
What Dr. Webb is saying here is that physicians will be limited to attempting to fertilize no more than three eggs, and that all resulting embryos must be transferred directly to the woman instead of frozen for use on later cycles.
It doesn’t matter that up to 50% of those eggs won’t fertilize, that 50% of the fertilized eggs will stop dividing within 2-5 days, and that this restriction will mean that many couples will have no embryos at all to transfer. It doesn’t matter if the mother is severely ill with OHSS — she must transfer those embryos immediately, and risk being made much sicker if she becomes pregnant. It doesn’t matter that transferring three embryos, instead of the one or two embryos doctors currently transfer in most cases, dramatically increases the risk of multiple birth, especially of triplets.
Such restrictions on fertilization and cryopreservation will have the same exact effect as an outright ban on IVF. It’s like saying that guns are legal, but that you can’t buy ammunition — it’s technically true, but the result is no different from a direct prohibition.
It also means that, in order to provide legal oversight, the state government will be required to review IVF patients’ private medical records to verify the number of eggs fertilized and transferred, and make sure that doctors are conforming to the law.
There you have it, directly from a pro-life physician and strong supporter of Initiative 26, that 26 will go far beyond frozen embryos and restrict IVF out of existence in Mississippi.
