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Litzman 'feels women's pain'
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Photo: Avigail Uzi
Katz, pushling for bill
Photo: Avigail Uzi

Health Committee pressures Litzman on egg bill

With deputy health minister yet to commit to timetable on advancing government bill regulating human egg donations, Knesset Health Committee chair threatens to promote identical private bill

MK Haim Katz, Chairman of the Knesset's Labor, Welfare and Health Committee warned Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman on Monday that if he does not advance the government bill on human egg donations before the Knesset goes into recess next week, the committee would push for an identical bill proposed by MKs Rachel Adatto and Arieh Eldad.

 

Sources on the committee said they are considering going to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if Litzman fails to back the bill.

 

"The private bill comes as a solution to a serious problem and I hope we won't have to twist Litzman's arm on this matter," Katz said.

 

During a previous committee session, Litzman said he would not delay his decision regarding the bill, but did not commit to a timetable. "I am studying the matter, I promise you I will not drag it out and I will try to make it short and speedy," the deputy minister said.

 

"I certainly feel the pain of the woman who wants to have a child. We are all human," he added.

 

The Health Ministry's legal advisor Mira Hibner-Harel, who formulated the bill, said a decision should be made quickly.

 

Chairwoman of the Chen – Patient Fertility Association Ofra Balaban warned that delays in the legislation only make things harder for women undergoing fertility treatments. "Time is running out for over 5,000 women. I ask this forum to do whatever it can to ensure that these women see the light at the end of the tunnel."

 

Hedva Eyal, of the Isha L'Isha feminist organization pointed out that Israeli doctors were giving hormonal treatment to women who have had their eggs extracted abroad despite the fact that these women were not undergoing fertility treatments – an act that is medically unethical.

 

According to Eyal, the egg extraction process is carried out in Cyprus and India. "It's important that the new law includes a ban on giving hormonal treatment if there are no medical indications for it," she said.

 

According to the bill, women who are not undergoing fertility treatments may also donate their eggs in exchange for financial compensation.

 

The bill also states that for any eggs to be donated for medical research the donor must give her consent.

 

The bill already passed for a second and third reading in 2006, but Litzman has yet to approve the advancement of the bill in the current Knesset.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.27.09, 13:11
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