The bill came in response to allegations against Grand Junction doctor
Doctors who artificially inseminate patients with their own sperm or that of other donors without a patient’s permission will soon be subject to felony charges and civil lawsuits.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1014, which had bipartisan support, into law on Monday.
The bill was introduced after Grand Junction gynecologist Dr. Paul B. Jones was accused last year of using his own sperm to impregnate women over three decades.
Health care providers who use a donor without consent from a patient can be charged with a class 6 felony and face up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. The penalties would apply to insemination, donation of eggs or sperm, donation of embryos, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, and sperm injections.
