Alabama rules embryos are children

[Syne]

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that decided frozen embryos are children, and those who destroy them can be held liable for wrongful death, shows a new way in which the overturning of Roe v. Wade can affect how embryos are viewed under certain state laws.

The ruling, released this month, stems from two lawsuits in which three sets of parents who underwent in-vitro fertilization (IVF) allege that several frozen embryos at a Mobile hospital were dropped on the floor and destroyed in December 2020. The parents sued for damages. A trial court originally dismissed their claims, finding that the embryos were not people, but the state Supreme Court ruling, reversing that decision, said that the destruction of the embryos falls under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor law.

That decision is the first known case in which a US court has ruled that frozen embryos are human beings. But several separate actions have led up to that decision, creating an unprecedented foundation for the ruling to take place – with the most significant being the US Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
- https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/24/health/al...index.html

This is what happens after decades of the left picking arbitrary points in gestation to recognize a human life. Whether it was viability, allowing partial-birth abortions, or even failed abortions simply left unattended to die, there have been numerous points at which leftists have deigned to agree it was human life. Without any regard to actual science.

So it should come as no surprise that the right, sans Roe, would at least pick a single, much less arbitrary point for the beginning of human life. So you only have leftists ignoring the science to blame here.

Otherwise, we could have a more nuanced discussion about:

Day 5. The new genome takes over as maternal transcripts are depleted.
- https://dnascience.plos.org/2013/10/03/w...imepoints/

And:

Embryos can be frozen at various stages of their development e.g. day 1 (pronuclear stage), day 2/3 (4-8 cell stage) and day 5/6 (blastocyst stage).
- https://www.uhcw.nhs.uk/ivf/treatments/c...servation/

So we could have had an ethical time frame to freeze embryos, to help couples facing infertility problems. But the left has made that impossible after decades of dishonestly arguing "the science."

[Magical Realist]

Yeehaw! Embryos are persons now. Let's issue them driver's licenses and voting cards!

[Syne]

Way to lower the already abyssal bar.

Not only with a hackneyed stereotype, but also conflating "persons" with "human life" (as the left is wont to do). Thanks for proving my point so readily.

[Magical Realist]

"A decision from the Alabama Supreme Court has alarmed doctors, patients and reproductive rights advocates. The court ruled that frozen embryos, created through in vitro fertilization, are legally children and thus protected. The designation of personhood could have significant repercussions for reproductive rights."----
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-an...e%20rights.

[Syne]

Like I said, the decades of dishonest debate from the left has foreclosed any possibility of a nuanced stance now. They did this to themselves.

[Zinjanthropos]

Some interesting decisions ahead for the IVF industry and customers in Alabama. IMHO it’s not worth the risk to be in the business. How is an existing company affected? How does one get out of the business? Will taxpayers bear the brunt?

https://lomalindafertility.com/resources...of%20them.

[Syne]

There's no brunt of companies going out of business that would affect taxpayers.

If they were smart, it would just mean that every embryo created must be implanted. No more long term storage.

[Zinjanthropos]

There's no brunt of companies going out of business that would affect taxpayers.

If they were smart, it would just mean that every embryo created must be implanted. No more long term storage.

Just don’t drop it.

Bailing out failed industry is a Canadian pastime. Whether this qualifies is unknown.

Insurance rates for these enterprises will probably skyrocket and the frozen embryo option may become unaffordable for most….this is where Canadian taxpayers will toss in their support. We are a do-gooder nation.

[confused2]

Apparently they lose about 25% as they thaw out .. maybe they have to just keep them frozen.

[Zinjanthropos]

Apparently they lose about 25% as they thaw out .. maybe they have to just keep them frozen.

A couple who were friends of my daughter asked her to be a surrogate for their last embryo after no success. She agreed and their only baby is now 2 yrs old. This recent ruling made me think that if the unsuccessful attempts were based on poor judgement by whomever decides these things, could charges be laid in Alabama?