Major Alabama hospital suspends IVF operations after court rules frozen embryos are children

The Alabama Supreme Court's ruling that frozen embryos are considered children and can be held liable if accidentally destroyed opens a new front in the U.S. battle over reproductive health.

Following the decision, the largest hospital in the southern US state suspended in vitro fertilization (IVF) services, fearing it could be exposed to criminal prosecution.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System announced it will continue collecting eggs from women's ovaries. But it said this would halt the next step in the IVF process, which involves fertilizing the egg with sperm before implanting it in the uterus.

“We regret that this will impact our patients' attempts to have babies through IVF,” the state's leading health care providers said in a statement.

“However, we must evaluate the potential for patients and physicians to face criminal prosecution or punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatment.”

Medical experts and reproductive advocacy groups warned that the ruling could have a negative impact on fertility treatments in Alabama and elsewhere.

Conservative groups welcomed the ruling, arguing that even the smallest fetus deserves legal protection.

The case stems from wrongful death lawsuits filed in 2020 by three couples who lost their babies at fertility clinics.

The patient wandered into the area where the embryos were stored, touched the embryos, and accidentally dropped them. As a result, the embryo was destroyed.

The couple attempted to sue the Reproductive Health Center and Mobile Clinic Association under the state's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. Although this law covered fetuses, it did not specifically cover embryos resulting from in vitro fertilization.

A lower court ruled that the wrongful death lawsuit could not proceed because the fetus did not qualify as a person or a child.

The ruling said the wrongful death law applies “to all unborn children, regardless of their place of residence.”

Chief Justice Tom Parker agreed with the majority opinion, writing, “All human beings bear the image of God before they are born, and their lives cannot be destroyed without diminishing the glory of God.” Ta.

This ruling did not prohibit or restrict IVF, and in fact, the couples who filed the lawsuit actively sought the IVF procedure.

But the decision could cause confusion about whether some aspects of IVF are legal under Alabama law, experts say. If embryos are considered human, questions may arise about how clinics are allowed to use and store them.

Elizabeth Smith, director of national policy at the Reproductive Rights Center, told the BBC in a statement: [IVF] Embryos are used, but they also cannot be used.

“Enacting a law that confers legal personality on unborn children could have dire consequences for the use of in vitro fertilization, a science that many people rely on to build families.”

Ambiguity surrounding the law can extend to patients themselves, who may worry about whether the procedure will remain available or legal.

In a statement, the Alabama State Medical Association said, “The importance of this decision affects all of Alabama, limiting the options for people seeking fertility, so they can protect their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and others from having a baby.” “The number is likely to decline.” Having a family. ”

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down abortion rights nationwide in 2022, it opened the door for states to enact their own laws on the issue.

Since that decision, Democratic-controlled states have expanded access, while Republican-controlled states have restricted access.

Alabama already has a complete ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

The White House said the Alabama decision was “exactly what we expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, paving the way for politicians to dictate some of the most personal decisions families make.'' “It's the kind of chaos that was happening.”

Abortion opponents are also closely watching this ruling. The question of when an embryo or fetus is legally considered a person is a factor in abortion restrictions in many states.

The conservative Christian law group the Alliance Defending Liberty called the Alabama ruling a “tremendous victory for life.”

“Every human life has value from the moment of conception, no matter the circumstances,” spokesperson Dennis Burke said in a statement to the BBC. “We are grateful that the court correctly held that Alabama law recognizes this fundamental truth.”

Other anti-abortion activists said that in their eyes, IVF is a less clear-cut ethical issue than abortion.

Eric Johnston, a lawyer who helped draft Alabama's constitutional language on abortion in 2018, told the BBC: “The pro-life community would generally say that the fertilized egg needs protection.”

But he acknowledged that there are couples who are anti-abortion and have used in vitro fertilization to have children, and said he would never criticize them.

“It's a dilemma, and a dilemma is not finding a satisfactory answer,” he added.

States in the United States tend to copy each other's laws, and the United States has seen this pattern apply to abortion. States often take cues from each other about what laws and policies have passed Congress or withstood legal challenges.

Although the Alabama ruling applies only within the state, experts say it is a legislative effort aimed at advancing the concept that frozen embryos should be legally considered children or people. He said lawsuits could arise in other states.

But they argue that because the Alabama decision was issued in a state court and concerns the interpretation of state law, not federal law, this particular case, like the abortion issue, would be before the U.S. Supreme Court. He said it seemed unlikely that the case would be contested.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 97,128 babies were born as a result of IVF treatment in the United States in 2021.

Abortion rights have been a winning issue for Democrats since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion up to about 23 to 25 weeks of fetal life.

In the wake of the Alabama ruling, Democratic candidates could run on a platform of protecting access to fertility treatment across the country.

Republican politicians, on the other hand, often side with religious conservatives who want to ban or limit abortion in the United States.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, the only remaining contender in the race for the party's nomination against Donald Trump, upheld an Alabama Supreme Court ruling Thursday.

“For me, a fetus is a baby,” she said. “When you talk about a fetus, you're talking about life to me, so when they talk about it, I understand where it's coming from.”