On Feb. 16, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are considered to be children under state law. IVF is a set of complicated treatments used to treat infertility and to prevent passing on genetic disorders/diseases to children. The first procedure involves collecting eggs from the ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm in a lab. Then, one or two fertilized eggs (embryos) are placed in the uterus where the baby will grow and develop.
The ruling comes as the result of a wrongful death case brought by three couples whose embryos were destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. The Justices ruled that an 1872 state law declared that parents are allowed to sue over the death of a minor child, and that extends to unborn children. Alabama Supreme Court Judge Jay Mitchell wrote in the majority ruling, “Unborn children are ‘children’…without expectation based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics.”
Alabama has a history of criminalizing abortion. In 2019, Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill that prohibited abortion (including in instances of rape and incest) except in the case of serious health risk to the pregnant person, or if the child has fatal fetal anomalies (FFA). The Human Life Protection Act classifies abortion as a felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison for the performing physician. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement in a 2023 lawsuit that was brought against Attorney General Steve Marshall, stating that Attorney Marshall could not, in fact, use conspiracy statutes to prosecute those who helped women leave the state for an abortion. To be clear, the Attorney General hadn’t attempted to initiate criminal proceedings against anyone for providing such assistance but has made statements alluding to his willingness to do so.
Within the first two weeks of the ruling, two of the eight fertility clinics in Alabama shut down, one of them being a very large clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reports, “The clinics say that they [stopped providing their services] out of real concern of the civil—and potential criminal—liability that their physicians and patients might face.” Since the ruling, Alabama lawmakers have pushed through emergency legislation to protect IVF services. Republicans focused the bills on protecting clinics from future lawsuits, rather than challenging the ruling that embryos deserve the same rights as children. Democrats had an unsuccessful attempt at revising the bill to include that human embryos outside of a uterus should not be considered an unborn child or even a human being. Both chambers of the state legislature passed the bills, and now need to vote on a unified version to send to Gov. Kay Ivey to sign into law.
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion bans have gone into effect in 14 states, including Alabama. While the anti-abortion legislation was signed in 2019, it didn’t reach full effect until abortion was no longer protected nationwide. In a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers estimate that 520,000 rapes have occurred in those 14 states since the ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson. Approximately 64,565 led to pregnancies. Nine out of those 14 states do not make expectations for abortions in cases of rape, including Alabama. Those 64,000 people had little to no abortion options. If they are not able to travel outside their state (residents of Arkansas, for example, would have to cross three state lines), they will be forced to give birth.
Having to reckon with the fact that not only are my reproductive rights less protected than the previous generation, but now they are competing with (and losing to) embryos cryo-frozen in lab freezers. However, I still come from a place of immense privilege. I am a woman of color, but I’m also a resident of New Jersey, a state in which not only is abortion legal, but there are safe haven laws in place to prevent the prosecution of those coming to N.J. seeking an abortion. I’m Muslim, but I’m also a cisgender, able-bodied, neurotypical woman. The groups who have and will continue to suffer the most are marginalized folks: BIPOC, LGBTQ, and those already impacted by poverty and lack of healthcare.
One must ask, if these lawmakers are so keen on “protecting life,” why has there been no major gun control legislation? Over 40,000 Americans died from gun violence in 2023, over 1,300 of which were minors. That averages to 118 deaths per day. Since 2014, not a single year has gone by where gun-related deaths fall under 39,000. This should dispel the tale Republicans love to spin when gaslighting the country into thinking they are looking out for “all children.” Not that Democrats are much better, dangling gun control as a voting issue, knowing that if they actually initiate legislation, they lose their moral high ground over their opponents, and thus reasons we should vote for them, which is exactly what they did with abortion by not codifying Roe v. Wade like President Joe Biden had promised.
This is an election year, and now that abortion has become a state issue, hold your representatives accountable. 80% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in some, if not all, cases. Our politicians have failed us. It’s time we hold their feet to the fire on the issue of abortion.