Lawmakers began looking for ways to protect Alabama's in vitro fertilization services after several providers suspended treatment in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children under a state law.
Facing a wave of shock and anger over the decision, lawmakers prepared separate proposals in the House and Senate that would seek to prevent a fertilized egg from being recognized as a human life or fetus under state law until it is implanted in the uterus of a child. a woman. .
Judges ruled last week that three couples whose frozen embryos had been destroyed in a mishap at a storage facility could file wrongful death lawsuits for their “extrauterine children.” The justices cited broad language that the GOP-controlled Legislature and voters added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018 saying the state recognizes the “rights of the unborn child.”
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Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, a Democrat, said Republicans helped create the situation in their effort to enact some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country. The result, he said, was to eliminate the path for people to become parents.
“At the end of the day, the Republican Party has to be held accountable for what they've done,” Singleton said.
Former President Donald Trump joined calls for Alabama lawmakers to act Friday, saying he would “strongly support the availability of IVF.”
A container with frozen embryos and sperm stored in liquid nitrogen is removed at a fertility clinic in Fort Myers, Florida, on October 2, 2018. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled on February 16, 2024 that frozen embryos can be considered children . under state law. Critics say this could have broad implications for fertility treatments, and three IVF providers in Alabama have suspended treatments. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
State Republican lawmakers said they were working on a solution.
“Alabamians believe strongly in protecting the rights of the unborn, but the outcome of the State Supreme Court ruling denies many couples the opportunity to conceive, which is a direct contradiction,” said the president of House of Representatives, Nathaniel Ledbetter.
Republican state Sen. Tim Melson, who is a doctor, said his proposal seeks to clarify that a fertilized egg is a “potential life” and not a human life until it implants in the uterus.
“I'm just trying to find a solution for the IVF industry and protect doctors and continue to make it available to people who have fertility issues that need to be addressed because they want to have a family,” Melson said.
Democratic House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels introduced legislation to clarify that “a human egg or embryo that exists in any form outside the womb shall not, under any circumstances, be considered a fetus” under state law. .
“This is just the first step to fixing the situation our state is in,” Daniels said.
Melson said he wasn't surprised the state is seeing unintended consequences of constitutional language. Supporters said it was aimed at blocking abortion if states ever gained control of the issue. But opponents warned that this was essentially a “personhood” measure that would establish “constitutional rights for fertilized eggs.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said the state wants to foster a culture of living and that includes “couples hoping and praying to become parents using IVF.”
Alabama Attorney General Marshall has no intention of prosecuting IVF providers or families based on the state Supreme Court ruling, senior counsel Katherine Robertson said in a statement.
The court ruling, which treats embryos the same as an unborn child or fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised questions about the legal liabilities clinics could face during IVF processes, including freezing , testing and embryo disposal. Three IVF providers in Alabama suspended their services after the ruling.
Gabby Goidel, days away from a scheduled egg retrieval appointment, was told Thursday that her provider would no longer perform embryo transfers.
“I started crying,” said Goidel, who quickly traveled with her husband to Texas to try to continue the IVF cycle with a provider there. The Alabama ruling is “not family-friendly in any way,” Goidel said.
At the North Alabama Fertility Institute, Dr. Brett Davenport said his clinic will continue to provide IVF. But he also urged state policymakers to act and eliminate uncertainty for providers.
“What we do couldn't be more pro-life. We're trying to help couples who otherwise can't conceive a child,” Davenport said.
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The court ruled only that embryos are covered by Alabama's wrongful death statute, said Mary Ziegler, a legal historian at the University of California, Davis School of Law. The court did not say embryos had full constitutional rights, she said, or at least not yet.
“I think people in Alabama rightly hope that this is the tip of the iceberg, and that this ruling will lead to more in the future,” Ziegler said. She also said anti-abortion groups and politicians have been pushing for some kind of ruling in federal courts “that the fetus is the holder of constitutional rights.”
“It's not just about in vitro and it's not just about Alabama. It's also part of this national movement,” he said.
