WASHINGTON — An Alabama Supreme Court decision legally recognizing frozen embryos as children has reignited concerns and confusion about the future of fertility treatments including in vitro fertilization, with both sides recognizing the broader impact of the case.
The court on Friday ruled that frozen embryos — which are used in IVF — are considered unborn children. Alabama voters amended their state constitution in 2018 to give personhood rights to fetuses, and the court decision clarified that that language extends to frozen embryos.
The ruling could have an impact well beyond abortion.
“One thing is certain: this ruling has profound implications far beyond Alabama’s borders,” said RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association in a statement, saying the new decision “may make it impossible to offer services like IVF.”
Abortion rights advocates warned that access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, could be impacted after the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 — given state efforts to change the legal definitions of when pregnancy begins and efforts to enshrine personhood protections that start at conception.
Experts typically define pregnancy as beginning when a fertilized egg has implanted itself in the uterine wall. But several state laws now define pregnancy as beginning at fertilization.
“We don’t have a real, federal definition of pregnancy,” said Kami Geoffray, president of Geoffray Strategies, a Texas-based health care consultancy. “These laws are not written with scientifically accurate language.”
Last week, the Kansas Senate held a hearing on a bill that would allow women to seek child support at any point after conception.
Oklahoma lawmakers also held a hearing on legislation last week that would define pregnancy as beginning at conception as well.
Liberty Counsel, a Christian law firm, cited the Alabama decision Monday in a brief in a separate Florida case.
The group has…
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