Last Friday, in a first-of-its-kind ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court held that embryos are considered people under Alabama state law. As such, those who destroy embryos could be held liable for wrongful death. The decision has concerned reproductive rights advocates who believe the ruling could jeopardize In-Vitro-Fertilization (IVF) and negatively impact “hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on treatments like it each year.” Anti-abortion lawmakers and advocates hail the decision as a step in the right direction for protecting “fetal personhood.” Let’s get into the details.
Background
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that fertilized eggs now have the same rights as children under the law. The decision stems from “wrongful death cases brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic in the state.” The couples had used IVF to create embryos that were then frozen for them to use at a later date if they wanted to. Up until the Court’s decision, this “was standard procedure in IVF clinics in the United States, where clinics prefer harvesting as many eggs at a time to increase the odds of getting even one egg that is healthy enough to be fertilized and put back into a woman’s uterus.”
According to NPR, the hospital that was storing the frozen embryos had a security breach involving “a random patient [who] somehow gained access to the cryogenics lab, grabbed the embryos and dropped them, thus destroying them.” From there, the couples sued the hospital, but a lower court ruled against them, finding that the couples were not entitled to damages because “the frozen embryos were not people.” The case then made its way to the Alabama Supreme Court, where the Justices ruled in the couples’ favor –holding that embryos are “children” under Alabama state law.
What did the Alabama Supreme Court Decide?
The Alabama Supreme Court decision ruling that frozen embryos can now be considered children under the law has led to a backlash by critics who believe the decision “could have sweeping implications for fertility treatment in the state.” According to the Alabama Constitution, the Justices cited language in an 1872 “state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child,” finding that the law “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”
Writing for the Court’s majority, Justice Jay Mitchel stated in Friday’s ruling that “unborn children are ‘children’…without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics.” Mitchel went on to write that the court based its decision off a previous ruling where they found that under Alabama law, “fetuses killed while a woman is pregnant are covered under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act and nothing excludes ‘extrauterine’ children from the Act’s coverage.”
In sum, the justices found that “unborn children are ‘children’ and that that was also true for frozen embryos, affording the fertilized eggs the same protection as babies under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.”
What are the Broader Implications?
The Alabama Supreme Court ruling immediately brought a slew of backlash and questions concerning its “potential impact on fertility treatment and the freezing of embryos, which had previously been considered property by the courts.” The CEO of a reproductive rights group told the Associated Press that the ruling states “that a fertilized egg, which is a clump of cells, is now a person. It really puts into question, the practice of IVF.” According to AP News, the group “called the decision a terrifying development for the 1-in-6 people impacted by infertility who need In-vitro Fertilization.”
Reproductive rights and the laws that protect them have been subject to much controversy since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. It is a highly contested political issue that has found its way into many courtrooms across the nation as states try and grapple with balancing the rights of patients, the definition of a “child,” and what protections are afforded to each. Additionally, states are grappling with how new laws impact medical personnel who assist in and carry out medical procedures and whether there are legal liabilities. The divide has now turned to embryos and IVF –with the Alabama Supreme Court ruling “that frozen embryos in test tubes should be considered children,” making an already highly contested legal issue even more controversial.
Following the reversal of Roe, defining reproductive rights and the legal responsibilities of doctors has been a challenge for lawmakers and courts. With the Alabama Supreme Court’s declaration that embryos are now regarded as children and are legally protected in the state, broader implications nationwide and the potential involvement of the US Supreme Court remain uncertain. Check back with the blog as we continue to follow reproductive rights-related lawsuits and changes to those laws and rights across the nation.
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Sources:
https://apnews.com/article/alabama-supreme-court-from-embryos-161390f0758b04a7638e2ddea20df7ca
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/20/1232815486/alabama-supreme-court-frozen-embryos
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/health/ivf-alabama-abortion.html
Music: Disruptor’s Dance by Anka Mason
Blog Narration: Anka Mason
