The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 decision that frozen embryos are protected by the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, reasoning that the law protects all children, regardless of their location. This ruling came into place after three couples sued the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile. Their basis for suing was wrongful death after the embryos were accidentally dropped after moving them out of a part of the clinic.
The justices ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.” Specifically, Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in the ruling that “unborn children are ‘children’… without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics.”
Chief Justice Tom Parker took a more religious look at the issue as he stated, “All three branches of government are subject to a constitutional mandate to treat each unborn human life with reverence. Carving out an exception for the people in this case, small as they were, would be unacceptable to the People of this State, who have required us to treat every human being in accordance with the fear of a holy God who made them in His image.”
Controversy has erupted around this decision as three IVF (in-vitro fertilization) services in Alabama suspended their treatments due to the ruling. The CEO of Infirmary Health, Mark Nix, said in the statement to CNN that the Alabama Supreme Court decision “has sadly left us with no choice but to pause IVF treatments for patients. We understand the burden this places on deserving families who want to bring babies into this world and who have no alternative options for conceiving.”
While the Alabama Supreme Court ruling did not outright ‘restrict’ IVF services, granting all embryos the right to life under the state’s Constitution opened the door for legal problems and other lawsuits against IVF providers, causing clinics in Alabama to pause treatments and related services such as embryo shipments.
Sophomore Aaron Santiago feels the court is doing the right thing, viewing it through a lens of cause and effect. “These people are handling the couple’s children and if something happens to them they deserve to be sued over it.”
In an effort to protect IVF providers and prevent IVF services being shut down in Alabama, the Republican-led Alabama House passed a bill on Thursday that protects in-vitro fertilization providers. The legislation, HB 237, works to give “civil and criminal immunity to persons providing goods and services related to in vitro fertilization in certain circumstances.” Under this bill, IVF providers would be immune to most but not all prosecutions. More specifically, providers would be prosecuted if the situation involves “an act or omission that is both intentional and not arising from or related to IVF services.”
