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. LBD06232-10-1A. 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.
