The nation's first embryo adoption bill passed Georgia Senate

The nation's first embryo adoption bill passed Georgia Senate

April 1, 11:49 PM ·

Georgia Senate has approved the nation’s first embryo adoption bill – Option of Adoption Act (HB 388), legislation which would allow for embryos to be formally adopted, offering the same legal rights to adoption as human beings, in accordance with Georgia adoption laws.
According to the bill, en embryo is an individual fertilized egg of human species, from the single-cell stage to 8 – week development (source).
While the HB388 allows for adoption of the embryo, it fails to grant it its own rights.  It does however, ask for a change to the definition of the word “child” to include human embryo. It also asks for the adoption to be no longer carried out as a form of contract or property law.
Governor Sonny Perdue is expected to sign it into law, given his life long pro-life stance. The legislation will limit the creation of embryos for research, scientific or destructive purposes. It does allow for continuation of the research that is being already done on existing stem cells, supports adult stem cell, research and studies using induced pluripotent stem cells (source).
Since the Senate version of the bill was changed slightly, it has to go back to the House for final approval. The 2009 legislative session ends on Friday, April 3.

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