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Copenhagen (dpa) - A previous ban preventing single women and lesbians in Denmark from receiving IVF treatment from a doctor will be scrapped, reports said Thursday.
Although a draft bill to parliament presented Thursday by Health Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen did not mention single women or lesbians, the minister said he did not rule out amendments.
Members of his Liberal party said they would introduce amendments allowing physicians to offer IVF treatment - where sperm from the man and eggs from the woman are mixed in laboratory, and then placed in the woman.
The ruling minority of Liberals and Conservatives is split over IVF treatment, and the amendment meant that the government avoided a showdown.
Denmark has previously allowed nurses and midwifes to conduct artificial insemination, but that has barred helping women who have difficulties in conceiving from opting for IVF.
The ban on IVF for single women or lesbians was introduced in 1997. A private clinic in the capital Copenhagen has since introduced the procedure for all
However, some discrimination will remain as Liberal politician Jorgen Winther suggested that single women and lesbians will have to pay for the IVF treatment as opposed to heterosexual couples.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
