Senate OKs Bill Making Human Egg Theft a Crime

Chastened by the UC Irvine fertility clinic scandal, the state Senate gave final approval Thursday to a bill that would make the stealing of human eggs a crime.

The measure by Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) was approved with no debate on a 33-0 vote and now goes to the governor’s desk.

Hayden’s measure would outlaw the intentional transfer of eggs, sperm or embryos without written consent from donors and recipients. Under the bill, convicted violators could face up to five years in state prison and fines up to $50,000.

The bill grew out of the disturbing fertility scandal that began unfolding last year in Orange County.

At least 60 families have alleged that, over the last decade, three UCI doctors at fertility clinics in Orange and Garden Grove and at UC San Diego stole eggs and embryos from patients and implanted them in others, some of whom gave birth.

The three physicians, Ricardo H. Asch, Jose P. Balmaceda and Sergio C. Stone, have denied intentional wrongdoing.

Scores of former patients have filed suit in the UCI scandal, which also involves allegations of financial wrongdoing, insurance fraud, use of an unauthorized fertility drug and research misconduct.

Law enforcement authorities and legislators have lamented that without a specific statute, it has proved difficult to prosecute theft of human eggs. Current laws do not apply because the eggs cannot be assigned monetary value.

“You can steal a stereo from somebody’s house and it’s a felony, but there was no similar provision in the law to steal what essentially amounts to a human life,” Hayden said.

He said the bill should provide “a measure of consolation to the families who have suffered” and anticipates that it will prove “a strong deterrent” to such wrongdoing in the future. Hayden predicted Gov. Pete Wilson will sign it.

Hayden’s bill was opposed by the California Medical Assn. and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, who argued that violations should fall under rules regulating unprofessional conduct, thus subjecting the violator to sanctions by the medical board but not criminal prosecution.