A California lesbian is suing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its “unconstitutional” sperm donor policies.

A California lesbian is suing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its “unconstitutional” sperm donor policies. The woman wants to conceive a child with her female partner and a male friend is willing to donate sperm. However, FDA regulations, she claims, forbid her from artificially inseminating herself. Instead, she is forced to use the services of a sperm bank to ensure that there are no infections. The woman claims that this is not fair as heterosexual couples can simply have sex and do not require the help of technology.

“These FDA regulations are unconstitutional to the extent that they operate to regulate non-commercial, sexually intimate choices and activity protected by the rights to privacy, bodily autonomy and integrity, liberty, life due process and equal protection guaranteed by the First, Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Amendment to the United States Constituion,” says her lawyer’s filing.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “The litigation is part of a growing push in California to expand same-sex couples’ rights to form and run families in lieu of the right to marry.” ~ Reuters, July 11  

Michael Cook
Creative commons
California
sperm donation