One in every six women struggle with infertility and many resort to in-vitro fertilization. This process involves having mature eggs from ovaries and then fertilizing them in the lab. These embryos are then placed into the uterus in a procedure to mature. The issue is that Alabama ruled that the embryos in the lab are considered children. This ruling massively impacts healthcare as in IVF multiple embryos are made and only the ones most likely to survive are kept. Therefore this ruling could make discarding the extra embryos considered murdering a child.
How this all came about is when in 2020 a patient wandered into the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center where three couples were storing embryos they didn’t use in their first IVF treatment. The patient got into the storage through an unsecured door and knocked over the embryos “killing” them. The parents sued, calling it murder, but the court dismissed it, unable to reach a clear conclusion on the charge under Roe vs Wade (there was compensation though). Once the State gained control of abortion access, with the dismantling of Roe vs Wade in 2022, the state supreme court was able to re-look at the decision. Ironically, the ruling is now threatening the very program that gave those parents their children. As the Alabama Supreme Court declared “extra-uterine children” – or, unborn children “located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed” – are children, and they are covered under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor law.
Multiple clinics in Alabama have temporarily stopped IVF treatment in the wake of this recent predicament. This has put many treatments on hold and is provoking fear in the millions of women who need this treatment. Alabama's decision could make treatments take years or be completely unavailable. The women seeking IVF might never have kids of their own without it.
Opinions:
I understand the basis behind the ruling as Alabama already ruled that abortion was a felony regardless of the level of development. Since they already agreed it was a crime to kill the embryo when in a body, why wouldn’t it apply to outside as well. However citizens who were in agreement with the original abortion ban are bewildered now that it is applied in this situation. I hope that this will make some people rethink their decision now that they can see the consequences.
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