New Jersey-2012-A844-Introduced

An Act concerning the procurement and use of human eggs and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Ovarian Health Protection Act."

2. a. No person shall sell, distribute, donate, procure, attempt to procure, or engage or participate in the use of human eggs from a woman by hormonal stimulation, including egg follicle stimulation, or surgical extraction or surgical intervention, for the purpose of research or experimentation.

b. (1) The provisions of this act shall not be construed to prohibit or in any way regulate the procurement or use of human eggs for the treatment of an egg donor's infertility, provided that the human eggs obtained for the donor's infertility treatment have been donated with the donor's voluntary, written and informed consent.

(2) As used in this act, "treatment of an egg donor's infertility" means the following services for the treatment of that person's infertility: in vitro fertilization; embryo transfer; artificial insemination; gamete intra fallopian transfer; zygote intra fallopian transfer; intracytoplasmic sperm injection; and egg retrievals.

3. a. A person or entity that violates the provisions of this act shall be liable to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 for each such incident. The civil penalty shall be collected in a civil action brought in the name of the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).

b. In addition to the provisions of subsection a. of this section, a health care professional or other person licensed, registered, or certified pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes who violates the provisions of this act shall be subject to permanent revocation of that person's professional license, registration, or certification by the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety or the appropriate licensing board within the division, as applicable.

4. The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) and in consultation with the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.

5. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment, except that the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of the act.

STATEMENT

This bill, which is designated the "Ovarian Health Protection Act," makes it unlawful for a person to sell, distribute, donate, procure, attempt to procure, or engage or participate in the use of human eggs from a woman by hormonal stimulation, including egg follicle stimulation, or surgical extraction or surgical intervention, if the human eggs are being procured solely for the purpose of research or experimentation.

The provisions of the bill are not to be construed to prohibit or in any way regulate the procurement or use of human eggs for the treatment of an egg donor's infertility, provided that the human eggs obtained for the donor's infertility treatment have been donated with the donor's voluntary, written and informed consent.

The bill defines "treatment of an egg donor's infertility" to mean the following services for the treatment of that person's infertility: in vitro fertilization; embryo transfer; artificial insemination; gamete intra fallopian transfer; zygote intra fallopian transfer; intracytoplasmic sperm injection; and egg retrievals.

The bill makes:

-- a person or entity that violates its provisions liable to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 for each such incident, to be collected pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999"; and

-- a health care professional or other person licensed, registered, or certified pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes who violates the provisions of the bill subject to permanent revocation of that person's professional license, registration, or certification by the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety or the appropriate licensing board within the division, as applicable.

The bill takes effect on the 180th day after enactment, but authorizes the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services to take anticipatory administrative action in advance as necessary for its implementation.