The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos must be recognized as unborn children under the state’s wrongful death law.
The 8-1 decision was based on the state constitution’s protection of unborn life from conception.
It allows lawsuits by couples whose embryos were destroyed by a fertility clinic to proceed.
The lone dissent argued it would curtail IVF in Alabama.
“Here, the text of the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act is sweeping and unqualified. It applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation,” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote. “It is not the role of this Court to craft a new limitation based on our own view of what is or is not wise public policy. That is especially true where, as here, the People of this State have adopted a Constitutional amendment directly aimed at stopping courts from excluding ‘unborn life’ from legal protection.”
“No court — anywhere in the country — has reached the conclusion the main opinion reaches. And, the main opinion’s holding almost certainly ends the creation of frozen embryos through in vitro fertilization (‘IVF’) in Alabama,” Justice Greg Cook said.
In concurrence, the Chief Justice cited historical thinkers and the Bible in framing the state’s duty to protect unborn life.
Pro-life advocates praised affirming legal protection from fertilization.
“All three branches of government are subject to a constitutional mandate to treat each unborn human life with reverence. Carving out an exception for the people in this case, small as they were, would be unacceptable to the People of this State, who have required us to treat every human being in accordance with the fear of a holy God who made them in His image,” Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote.
“It is as if the People of Alabama took what was spoken of the prophet Jeremiah and applied it to every unborn person in this state: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, Before you were born I sanctified you,’” he wrote.
The ruling established that Alabama’s constitutional protection of unborn life extends to frozen embryos in legal cases concerning their destruction.
“This decision made by the Alabama Supreme Court affirms the scientific reality that a new human life begins at the moment of fertilization. Each person, from the tiniest embryo to an elder nearing the end of his life, has incalculable value that deserves and is guaranteed legal protection,” Live Action President Lila Rose said.
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