Georgia CommonsHouse · Engrossed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 329: Professional and businesses; authorize certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform artificial insemination
Last action January 12, 2026 · Senate Recommitted
House Bill 329 would let certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants perform artificial insemination in Georgia, expanding a task currently limited to licensed physicians and surgeons.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37), only licensed physicians and surgeons are allowed to perform artificial insemination on a woman; anyone else who does so commits a felony punishable by one to five years in prison. This bill rewrites that law to add certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to the list of people who may lawfully perform the procedure. The bill adds definitions for terms like 'certified nurse practitioner,' 'physician assistant,' 'additional duty,' and 'Form C' (a state medical board document used to delegate tasks). It sets conditions: a nurse practitioner may only perform the procedure if a supervising physician has delegated that authority through a Form C and is physically present, while a physician assistant needs similar delegation plus specific approval from the Georgia Composite Medical Board. The bill also extends existing civil liability protections, tied to written spousal authorization, to these new providers. The changes take effect January 1, 2026.
What the bill does
- Adds certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to the short list of people legally allowed to perform artificial insemination in Georgia.
- Requires a certified nurse practitioner to have delegated authority via a Form C from a supervising physician, who must be physically present during the procedure.
- Requires a physician assistant to have delegated authority from a supervising physician who is physically present, plus specific approval from the Georgia Composite Medical Board.
- Extends existing civil liability protections tied to written spousal authorization to certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants, while preserving liability for their own negligence.
- Keeps the existing felony penalty (one to five years in prison) for anyone else who performs artificial insemination without authorization.
Who it affects
Certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants in Georgia, who would gain new authority to perform artificial insemination under supervision; physicians and surgeons who delegate and supervise them; the Georgia Composite Medical Board, which must approve physician assistants for this duty; and patients seeking fertility treatment.
Why it matters
The change could expand access to artificial insemination services by allowing more types of licensed medical providers to perform the procedure, provided a supervising physician delegates the task and is physically present, potentially affecting scheduling and availability at fertility clinics across Georgia.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37 to add definitions for 'additional duty,' 'certified nurse practitioner,' 'Form C,' and 'physician assistant.'
- Section 1 expands the list of people authorized to perform artificial insemination to include certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants, alongside physicians and surgeons.
- Section 1 requires a certified nurse practitioner to use a Form C delegation from a supervising physician who is physically present during the procedure.
- Section 1 requires a physician assistant to have physician delegation, physician physical presence, and Board approval of artificial insemination as an additional duty.
- Section 1 extends civil liability protection based on written spousal authorization to the new categories of providers, while preserving liability for their own negligence.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026.
- Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Physicians and surgeons licensed to practice medicine in accordance with and under this article, certified nurse practitioners, and physician assistants shall be the only persons authorized to administer or perform artificial insemination upon any female human being.”
“A physician assistant may administer or perform an artificial insemination only if such assistant has been delegated the authority to do so by a delegating physician or surgeon, such physician or surgeon is physically present at the location and time such artificial insemination is administered or performed, and such authority has been approved as an additional duty for such assistant by the Georgia Composite Medical Board.”
Status timeline
- Senate Recommitted (Senate)
- Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
Show full history (12 actions)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Scott Hilton (R, HD-48)
- Deborah Silcox (R, HD-53)
- Lee Hawkins (R, HD-27)
- Sharon Cooper (R, HD-45)
- Lehman Franklin (R, HD-160)
- Sandy Donatucci (R, HD-105)
- Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-32)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 27, 2025
167 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 10 excused)
Topics
- medical licensing
- nurse practitioners
- physician assistants
- fertility treatment
- health care providers