The Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case Bert Miller and Nancy Duffner v. State of Iowa during a special evening session in Des Moines, Tuesday, February 11, at 7:00 p.m. in the Supreme Court Courtroom on the fourth floor of the Judicial Branch Building, 1111 East Court Avenue.
The evening session is open to the public and provides an opportunity for Iowa residents, who may not be able to attend the court's regular morning and afternoon sessions, to watch the court conduct oral arguments in person. The Polk County Bar Association will sponsor a public reception with the supreme court justices in the Judicial Branch Building second-floor Light Court following the oral arguments.
Summary of the case, Bert Miller and Nancy Duffner v. State of Iowa, case number 24–1017 from Johnson County District Court:
Iowa’s recently enacted Fraud in Assisted Reproduction Act (FARA), effective July 1, 2022, prohibits a health care practitioner from providing false information to patients related to assisted reproduction procedures. Children of deceased parents may recover damages under the Act. The issue in this case is whether the FARA applies retroactively to allow children to recover for a health care provider’s alleged fraudulent insemination of their unsuspecting mother-to-be with his own sperm over 70 years ago.
Attorneys' briefs for the case are posted here on the Iowa Judicial Branch website.
Proceedings will be streamed live on the Iowa Judicial Branch YouTube channel.
For more information, visit the Iowa Supreme Court page on the Iowa Judicial Branch website.
Note to Editors: Members of the news media are invited to attend the oral arguments. Court rules apply regarding still cameras, video cameras, audio recording devices, and other electronic devices used in the courtroom during the oral arguments. Information on expanded news media coverage is available on the Iowa Judicial Branch website.
The rules regarding cameras and other electronic devices in courtrooms are in Chapter 25 of the Iowa Court Rules (PDF). Answers to frequently asked questions about appellate court news media coverage are on the Iowa Judicial Branch website.
For More Information:
Steve Davis
Communications Director
Iowa Judicial Branch
[email protected]