OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 502 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 502’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Somani and Piccolantonio
Effective date:
Amy L. Archer, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
Prohibition on designating personhood
▪ Prohibits human reproductive material that exists outside of a human uterus from being
connoted as or designated a person.
Regulation of assisted reproduction
▪ Prohibits any Ohio political subdivision, or official or employee of Ohio, from prohibiting
or limiting any of the following:
 An individual from accessing, continuing, or completing assisted reproduction or
using or controlling the use of the individual’s human reproductive material.
 Any assisted reproduction health care provider from performing assisted
reproduction treatments or procedures or providing information;
 Any insurance provider from covering assisted reproduction treatments or
procedures.
▪ Establishes a cause of action for violating the prohibition.
Qualified immunity for assisted reproduction
▪ Grants qualified immunity from civil liability, criminal liability, and professional discipline
to a health care provider or reproductive health care helper for providing reproductive
health care and to an individual for seeking reproductive health care.
▪ Specifies that the qualified immunity does not apply if the act or omission constitutes
willful or wanton misconduct or reckless disregard for the consequences.
Informed consent for assisted reproduction
▪ Requires health care providers to obtain informed consent before performing or
providing assisted reproduction health care.
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Data privacy for assisted reproduction or donor information
▪ Prohibits, generally, a regulated entity from collecting, retaining, using, or disclosing
personal assisted reproduction or donor information, including disclosure to third
parties such as other states and law enforcement.
▪ Establishes civil causes of action for individuals and the Ohio Attorney General against
regulated entities who fail to comply with the bill’s requirements or violate its
prohibitions.
Protection of patient records from out-of-state third parties
▪ Prohibits a health care provider or facility from being required or compelled to provide
patient records to any out-of-state third party.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prohibition on designating personhood ......................................................................................... 2
Regulation of assisted reproduction ............................................................................................... 3
Prohibition on banning or limiting access ................................................................................... 3
Civil action ................................................................................................................................... 3
Qualified immunity for assisted reproduction ............................................................................... 4
Assisted reproduction definitions ............................................................................................... 5
Informed consent for assisted reproduction .................................................................................. 6
Data privacy for assisted reproduction and donation .................................................................... 6
Data restrictions .......................................................................................................................... 6
Mechanisms to access and delete data ...................................................................................... 6
Privacy policy ............................................................................................................................... 7
Enforcement mechanisms ........................................................................................................... 8
Individual civil action .............................................................................................................. 8
Unfair or deceptive act or practice......................................................................................... 9
Data privacy definitions............................................................................................................... 9
Protection of patient records from out-of-state third party ........................................................ 12
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Prohibition on designating personhood
The bill prohibits, for purposes of the Revised Code and notwithstanding any other
provision of law, human reproductive material that exists outside of a human uterus from being
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considered an unborn human individual, an unborn child, a fetus, a natural person, or any other
term that connotes or designates personhood.1
Regulation of assisted reproduction
Prohibition on banning or limiting access
Under the bill, no Ohio political subdivision, or state official or employee, may prohibit
or unreasonably limit, for reasons other than to enforce health and safety regulations, any of
the following:
▪ Any individual from doing any of the following:
 Accessing assisted reproduction;
 Continuing or completing an ongoing assisted reproduction treatment or procedure
pursuant to a written plan or agreement with an assisted reproduction health care
provider;
 Using or controlling the use of the individual’s human reproductive material.
▪ Any assisted reproduction health care provider from doing either of the following:
 Performing assisted reproduction treatments or procedures;
 Providing evidence-based information related to assisted reproduction.
▪ Any insurance provider from covering assisted reproduction treatments or procedures.
Nothing in the bill may be construed as preempting any written agreement or contract
regarding an individual’s human reproductive material.
The bill defines “assisted reproduction health care provider” as any entity or individual,
including any physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or pharmacist, who is engaged
or seeks to engage in assisted reproduction care, such as through the provision of evidence-
based information, counseling, or items and services related to fertility treatment.2
Civil action
The bill allows all of the following to bring a civil action against any Ohio political
subdivision, or state official or employee, for the violation of, or the enactment,
implementation, or enforcement of a limitation or requirement that violates the prohibition
described above:
▪ The Attorney General;
▪ Any individual or entity adversely affected by the violation;
1 R.C. 3732.13.
2 R.C. 3732.08.
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▪ An assisted reproduction health care provider on the provider’s own behalf, on behalf of
the provider’s staff, and on behalf of the provider’s patients who are or may be
adversely affected by the violation.
The court may award appropriate equitable relief, including temporary, preliminary, or
permanent injunctive relief. It must award the costs of litigation and reasonable attorney’s fees
to any prevailing plaintiff. A plaintiff is not liable to a defendant for costs or attorney’s fees in
any nonfrivolous action filed under the bill.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Ohio political subdivision, or state
official or employee, is immune from an action brought for violation of the prohibition in a
court of competent jurisdiction. This means that existing laws that provide sovereign immunity
would not apply in the circumstances covered by the bill.
Nothing in the bill can be construed to do either of the following:
▪ Prohibit the enforcement of health and safety regulations that apply to assisted
reproduction health care providers or health care facilities that provide assisted
reproduction care, if the regulations do both of the following:
 Advance the safety of health care services or the health of patients;
 Cannot be advanced by a less restrictive alternative measure or action.
▪ Modify, supersede, or otherwise affect any law regarding insurance coverage of assisted
reproduction.3
Qualified immunity for assisted reproduction
The bill grants qualified immunity to health care providers providing assisted
reproduction care, health care facilities where assisted reproduction care is provided,
individuals seeking assisted reproduction care (including donors), and assisted reproduction
care helpers. The bill specifies that, except as otherwise provided in continuing laws related to
fraudulent assisted reproduction or assisted reproduction performed without consent,4 the
health care provider, health care facility, individual, or helper is not liable for or subject to
damages in a civil action, prosecution in a criminal proceeding, or professional disciplinary
action for any of the following:
▪ A claim of injury to or death of any human reproductive material as an unborn human
individual;
▪ Providing, accessing, or utilizing assisted reproduction care.
The bill’s immunity does not apply if the act or omission associated with providing
assisted reproduction care constitutes negligence, willful or wanton misconduct, or reckless
3 R.C. 3732.09.
4 R.C. 2907.13, 2907.14, 4731.861, and 4731.864, not in the bill.
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disregard for loss to person or property or the consequences so as to affect the life or health of
the patient. Further, nothing in bill may be construed to permit a wrongful death action related
to a loss of human reproductive material.5
Assisted reproduction definitions
The bill defines the following terms:
▪ “Assisted reproduction” is a method of causing pregnancy other than through sexual
intercourse, including all of the following:
 Intrauterine insemination;
 Human reproductive material donation;
 In vitro fertilization and transfer of embryos;
 Intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
▪ “Assisted reproductive care” is medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services that are
lawful in Ohio or the receipt of products relating to assisted reproduction that is lawful
in Ohio, including services, procedures, or medicines relating to assisted reproduction
and the provision of human reproductive material by a donor.
▪ “Assisted reproduction care helper” is a person who facilitates or otherwise has
supported or is supporting an individual in seeking or receiving assisted reproduction
care in Ohio, including a person who provides funding, lodging, transportation, doula
services, information, data sharing services such as electronic medical records programs,
or other financial or practical support to an individual seeking or receiving assisted
reproduction care.
▪ “Donor” is an individual who provides human reproductive material to a health care
professional to be used for assisted reproduction, regardless of whether the human
reproductive material is provided for consideration. The term does not include any of
the following:
 A husband or a wife who provides human reproductive material to be used for
assisted reproduction by the wife;
 A woman who gives birth to a child by means of assisted reproduction;
 An unmarried man who, with the intent to be the father of the resulting child,
provides human reproductive material to be used for assisted reproduction by an
unmarried woman.
▪ “Health care provider” is an advanced practice registered nurse, a registered nurse, a
pharmacist, a dentist, an optometrist, a physician, a physician assistant, or a hospital.
5 R.C. 2305.2312(B) and (C).
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▪ “Human reproductive material” means:
 Human spermatozoa or ova;
 A human organism at any stage of development from fertilized ovum to embryo. 6
Informed consent for assisted reproduction
Under the bill, assisted reproduction health care can be performed or provided only if
the assisted reproduction health care provider has obtained each patient’s informed consent.
The provider must provide each patient with written copies of the provider’s and health care
facility’s assisted reproduction-related policies and services applicable to the patient. Each
patient must sign a form acknowledging that the patient has received the information and
consents to the policies and applicable services.7
Data privacy for assisted reproduction and donation
The bill adds new privacy protections related to personal assisted reproduction or donor
information that apply to entities that are not covered under current state and federal laws
that protect patient health information.
Data restrictions
Under the bill, a regulated entity may not collect, retain, use, or disclose personal
assisted reproduction or donor information, except in either of the following circumstances:
▪ With the express consent of the individual to whom the information relates;
▪ As is strictly necessary to provide a product or service that the individual has requested.
The regulated entity must restrict access to personal assisted reproduction or donor
information to its employees or service providers for which access is necessary to provide a
requested product or service to the individual.
For purposes of compliance with the bill’s data restriction requirements by a service
provider of a regulated entity, a request from an individual to the regulated entity for a product
or service, and an express consent from the individual to the regulated entity, must be treated
as also having been provided to the service provider.8
Mechanisms to access and delete data
The bill requires a regulated entity to make available a reasonable mechanism by which
an individual, upon a verified request, may do the following:
1. Access both of the following:
6 R.C. 2305.2312(A); R.C. 2305.2311 and 2907.13, not in the bill.
7 R.C. 3732.14.
8 R.C. 3732.02.
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a. The individual’s personal assisted reproduction or donor information that is retained
by the regulated entity, including how and from which third parties the regulated
entity collected any information about the individual and information that the
regulated entity inferred about the individual;
b. A list of the third parties to which the regulated entity disclosed the individual’s
personal assisted reproduction or donor information.
2. Request the deletion of any retained personal assisted reproduction or donor
information related to the individual, including any information that the entity collected
from a third party or inferred from other retained information.
The information described in (1) above must be made available in both a human-
readable format and a structured, interoperable, and machine-readable format. The regulated
entity is required to comply with a verified request without undue delay, but no later than
15 days after the date the verified request was received. The entity cannot charge the
individual a fee for the request.
Nothing in