By Piper Sartison
Elm Staff Writer
Alabama legislators recently ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children and therefore deserve legal protection, causing a shift in the in vitro fertilization process in fertility clinics across the state and leaving many families confused, upset, and conflicted over their futures.
According to The Washington Post, “the ruling quickly opened the door to wide-ranging concerns among doctors and IVF patients that they could be held liable for destroying frozen embryos, either by accident or as part of the normal course of IVF treatment.”
Since 1978, IVF treatment has been considered a highly trusted and valuable source of fertility for many women across the world. There has been a public increase in criticism of this source of fertility treatment, presumably due to the horrific motivations of the Republican party. Republicans are known to target women’s reproductive rights; laws as such the one described as well as the overturning of Roe v. Wade have caused harm and danger to many women across the country.
According to CBS, the ruling shocked many across America, causing the halt of IVF treatments as well as the shutdown of fertility clinics.
Politicians from the Democratic party reacted negatively to the news. “I’m disappointed that Republican state legislators in Alabama refused to work in a bipartisan way to pass a real solution to this Republican-created crisis that makes it clear: an embryo is not a human being,” Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth said for CNN.
Last week, IVF advocates and families joined united outside of the Alabama State House to demand the return of fertility services. During the protest, lawmakers worked to force protective legislation for families impacted by the ruling, as many were undergoing IVF treatments during the halt.
According to CBS, “the court ruled that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their ‘extrauterine children.’ The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics.”
The law deems fertility clinics responsible for the destruction of any embryo, regardless of if the process of removing the eggs is purposeful or accidental. Because the Alabama court ruled embryos as equal to children, fertility clinics will be deeply affected and reassessed. The question remains of how heavy the impact will be on women’s reproductive rights.
“House Democrats proposed legislation that would put in state law or the state Constitution that a human embryo outside a uterus cannot be considered an unborn child or human being under state law. Democrats argued that was the most direct way to deal with the issue. Republicans have not brought the proposals up for a vote,” according to CBS.
The concept of comparing frozen eggs to children is utterly absurd and scientifically incorrect. Our government has once again intervened in the lives of women seeking fertility treatment, displaying an incredibly harmful and oppressive mentality rooted deeply in the system of the Republican party. Leave women and their bodies alone.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Photo caption: Reproductive freedom has been a topic of contention nationwide, spurring protests and conflict.