Bill Text: NY A01091 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Establishes a cause of action for fertility fraud; allows patients who have undergone assisted reproduction procedures to bring a cause of action if human reproductive material other than that which was consented to by the patient is used in such procedure; allows for compensatory and punitive damages.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to judiciary [A01091 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A01091-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         1091--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     January 7, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. PAULIN, DINOWITZ, FAHY, L. ROSENTHAL, ZEBROWSKI,
          SEAWRIGHT, NOLAN, MAGNARELLI,  GALEF,  SIMON,  ROZIC,  GRIFFIN,  OTIS,
          MONTESANO, SCHMITT, McDONOUGH -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee  on  Judiciary  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the civil rights law and the education law, in  relation
          to establishing a cause of action for fertility fraud

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The civil rights law is amended by  adding  a  new  section
     2  52-d to read as follows:
     3    §  52-d.  Private  right of action for fertility fraud. 1. Any patient
     4  who has undergone an assisted reproduction procedure with a health  care
     5  provider,  the  spouse  of  any  patient  who  has undergone an assisted
     6  reproduction procedure with a health care provider, or a child or person
     7  born as a result of such assisted reproduction procedure  shall  have  a
     8  private  right  of  action for damages against such health care provider
     9  under any of the following conditions:
    10    (a) such health care provider knowingly or intentionally  performs  an
    11  assisted reproduction procedure using the human reproductive material of
    12  the  health  care  provider  or  any  other  donor without the patient's
    13  informed written consent to treatment using human reproductive  material
    14  from  the health care provider or from any donor other than a donor from
    15  whom the patient consented to in writing; or
    16    (b) such health  care  provider  intentionally  performs  an  assisted
    17  reproduction procedure and such health care provider knows or reasonably
    18  should  have  known  that the human reproductive material was used:  (i)
    19  without the donor's consent; or (ii) in a manner or to an  extent  other
    20  than that to which the donor consented.
    21    2.  Any  patient who has undergone an assisted reproduction procedure,
    22  the spouse of any patient who has  undergone  an  assisted  reproduction

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06232-10-1

        A. 1091--A                          2

     1  procedure,  or  a  child  or  person  born  as a result of such assisted
     2  reproduction procedure shall have a private right of action for  damages
     3  against  a  donor or assisted reproductive service provider under any of
     4  the following conditions:
     5    (a)  such  donor  or  assisted reproductive service provider knowingly
     6  provides false or  misleading  information  about  the  donor's  medical
     7  history including but not limited to an illness at the time of donation,
     8  any  past  illness of the donor, or the genetic or family history of the
     9  donor for the past two generations which is known to the  donor  at  the
    10  time of donation; or
    11    (b)  such  assisted  reproductive  service  provider knowingly uses or
    12  provides human reproductive material for an assisted reproduction proce-
    13  dure in a manner or to an extent other than that to  which  the  patient
    14  consented.
    15    3. A donor of human reproductive material shall have a cause of action
    16  against  a health care provider or assisted reproductive service provid-
    17  er, if the donor's human reproductive material was used: (a) without the
    18  donor's consent; or (b) in a manner or to an extent other than  that  to
    19  which the donor consented.
    20    4.  Damages  recovered  by  a plaintiff pursuant to this section shall
    21  include compensatory damages. In addition thereto, the trier of fact may
    22  award punitive damages and such other  non-monetary  relief  as  may  be
    23  appropriate.  In  awarding damages, the court may consider the emotional
    24  impact of the defendant's conduct.
    25    5. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to  abrogate  or  otherwise
    26  limit  any  right  or remedy otherwise conferred by federal or state law
    27  including but not limited to, any  right  or  remedy  related  to  child
    28  support,  nor shall any award under this section be used to offset child
    29  support obligations that may arise in connection with this section.
    30    6. A cause of action under this section shall be  commenced  no  later
    31  than  six  years  from the date a person discovers, or reasonably should
    32  have discovered, the fertility fraud.
    33    7. For purposes of this section, the following terms  shall  have  the
    34  following meanings:
    35    (a)  "donor"  shall  mean  an  individual  who does not intend to be a
    36  parent, who produces human reproductive material and provides such human
    37  reproductive material to another person,  other  than  the  individual's
    38  spouse, for use in an assisted reproduction procedure;
    39    (b) "human reproductive material" shall mean:
    40    (i) a human spermatozoon or ovum; or
    41    (ii) a human organism at any stage of development from fertilized ovum
    42  to embryo; and
    43    (c)  "patient"  shall  mean  any individual injected or implanted with
    44  human reproductive material.
    45    § 2. Section 6530 of the education law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
    46  subdivision 51 to read as follows:
    47    51.  Found liable for fertility fraud under section fifty-two-d of the
    48  civil rights law.
    49    § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    50  have  become  a  law, and shall apply to acts occurring on or after such
    51  date.
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