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NewsNewsThe Tennessee State Law could change how the embryos are handled at the time of treatment, thereby making the IVF clinic services in the state more expensive for patients seeking fertility care.
As artificial intelligence gets better, state lawmakers are making more rules to control and define it. Opines Sen. Mark Pody (R-Tenn.), “The need in this case is that artificial intelligence is growing so rapidly, it's hard to put the right gutters and guardrails on it. We don't even know what it's going to be like five to 10 years from now.”
The Tennessee Senate recently passed a bill with a 26-6 vote that says AI, computer algorithms, programs, as well as machines, are not legally persons in the state. Sen. Pody says, “It's called 'artificial life' because that's what it is, no matter how far, no matter how advanced it gets." Before the votes were cast, there were talks on the Senate floor, and some lawmakers were not pleased with how this Tennessee State law was written.
Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Tenn.) says that “The 'person’ used in Tennessee State law typically means lots of things that aren't actual, living, breathing humans. In Tennessee law, corporations, LLCs, and organizations are counted as persons, just like people are.”
There was a lot of debate about the bill's definition of human life and how it might affect fertility clinics.
In a meeting in March, 2026, Sen. London Lamar (D-Tenn) asked, "If those unused, fertilized embryos are now considered humans, who would have to pay for keeping them stored, and what happens to them?"
Some fertility clinics in Chattanooga say that this law could change how embryos are handled, which could make services more expensive.
This bill is just the beginning of the conversation that will happen in the future.
Sen. Yarbo says, “I fear that this could have some negative repercussions that may bring us back here to clean this up.”
According to Sen. Pody, “I’ve got to take this one step at a time, and this is clearly defining that artificial light is not a person. That's all that this bill is doing."
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