Ala. hospital halts IVF after state’s high court ruled embryos are “children”
arstechnica.com
Anger and uncertainty spread in wake of Friday's ruling by the state's Supreme Court.

Alabama hospital halts IVF after court ruled that embryos are “children” — Supreme Court decision means anyone who destroys embryos could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages::Anger and uncertainty spread in wake of Friday’s ruling by the state’s Supreme Court.

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    9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) health system is halting in vitro fertilization treatment in the wake of a ruling by the state’s Supreme Court on Friday that deemed frozen embryos to be “children,” The ruling opens up anyone who destroys embryos to liability in a wrongful death lawsuit, according to multiple media reports.

    In 2021, approximately 238,126 patients in the US had 413,776 rounds of IVF, resulting in 97,128 live-born infants, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    But, the standard practices of IVF used for hundreds of thousands of patients each year were thrown into question and upheaval Friday when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that all embryos, even those outside of a uterus or frozen in storage, are “children” under state law.

    Reproductive health experts quickly speculated that the ruling would roll back IVF treatment in the state.

    Patients are considering moving frozen embryos—some leftover from IVF rounds, some purposely banked for future use—to storage facilities out of the state.

    And, if small clumps of cells gain personhood rights in more states, liability could spread to contraceptive use and people who suffer a miscarriage.

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