The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabama Fertility Services plan to resume providing in vitro fertilization services after a bill protecting providers was signed by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey Wednesday.
Under the new state law, providers of IVF services will not be held legally liable for death or damage to an embryo during treatment.
Related article: Lawmakers look to protect IVF, providers after Alabama ruling
The University of Alabama at Birmingham, the state's largest health system, said in a statement it plans to quickly reinstate IVF treatments and will continue to assess and advocate for IVF provider and patient protection.
On Thursday, Alabama Fertility Services in Birmingham said in a Facebook post it would resume IVF treatments this week.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine said in a statement it is pleased with the law but it's only a temporary solution.
"It fails to correct the underlying mistake the Court made when it conflated an in vitro fertilized egg with a child," Sean Tipton, chief advocacy and policy officer for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said in the statement.
UAB Medicine, Alabama Fertility Services and Mobile, Alabama-based Infirmary Health halted IVF services last month following a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally equivalent to children. The providers paused treatments out of concern they could be criminally prosecuted or face punitive damages for offering IVF services.
The bill to protect those services was introduced Feb. 27, less than a week after the court ruling.
