A ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are considered children under state law sent shockwaves well beyond the southern state's borders, and concern is high among Massachusetts women.The Alabama court’s ruling last week stemmed from wrongful death lawsuits brought by couples whose frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed.Lawmakers began scrambling for ways to protect Alabama's in vitro fertilization services after multiple providers paused services in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children under a state law."Having someone who does not have any medical or health care background making arbitrary rules about their frozen embryos had to be absolutely devastating," Heidi Fantasia, a registered nurse and chair of the UMass Lowell Solomon School of Nursing, said.Fantasia says IVF families in Massachusetts are safe for now. Gov. Maura Healey reiterated on Thursday to protect reproductive rights. Fantasia worries about what's next. "Where people live will determine the quality of health care that they get," Fantasia said. "A case like it could go all the way up to the Supreme Court, and that's what really puts the future of fertility care at risk," Kate Weldon LeBlanc with Resolve New England said.LeBlanc heads up an infertility support group. Her own daughter Sophie was born through IVF. She says calls it an intensely personal and emotional journey between an individual and their doctor, not politicians and judges.Facing a wave of shock and anger from the decision, Alabama legislators are now preparing separate proposals in the House and Senate that would seek to prevent a fertilized egg from being recognized as a human life or an unborn child under state laws until it is implanted in a woman's uterus.Alabama Attorney General Marshall does not intend to prosecute IVF providers or families based on the state Supreme Court ruling, Chief Counsel Katherine Robertson said in a statement.The court’s ruling, treating the embryos the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised questions about what legal liabilities clinics could face during IVF processes, including the freezing, testing and disposal of embryos. Three IVF providers in Alabama paused their services in the aftermath of the ruling.Justices ruled last week that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in a mishap at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death claims for their "extrauterine children." Justices cited sweeping language that the GOP-controlled Legislature and voters added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018, saying that the state recognizes the "rights of the unborn child."The Alabama ruling raises questions about what would become of frozen embryos that are not used in implantation procedures, what financial responsibility patients might have to maintain them if they could not legally be destroyed and what civil and even criminal liabilities medical providers could face throughout the process.The issue has become a flashpoint on the presidential campaign trail. Former President Donald Trump said Friday that he would “strongly support the availability of IVF" and called on lawmakers in Alabama to preserve access to the treatment that has become a new flashpoint in the 2024 presidential election.Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, his last remaining major opponent for the GOP presidential nomination, have both cautioned against an absolute national ban and now have distanced themselves from the Alabama case."Trump cannot run from his record, and neither can the millions of women who his actions have hurt,” said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, President Joe Biden’s campaign manager, in a statement.Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
LOWELL, Mass. —A ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are considered children under state law sent shockwaves well beyond the southern state's borders, and concern is high among Massachusetts women.
The Alabama court’s ruling last week stemmed from wrongful death lawsuits brought by couples whose frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed.
Lawmakers began scrambling for ways to protect Alabama's in vitro fertilization services after multiple providers paused services in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children under a state law.
"Having someone who does not have any medical or health care background making arbitrary rules about their frozen embryos had to be absolutely devastating," Heidi Fantasia, a registered nurse and chair of the UMass Lowell Solomon School of Nursing, said.
Fantasia says IVF families in Massachusetts are safe for now. Gov. Maura Healey reiterated on Thursday to protect reproductive rights.
Fantasia worries about what's next.
"Where people live will determine the quality of health care that they get," Fantasia said.
"A case like it could go all the way up to the Supreme Court, and that's what really puts the future of fertility care at risk," Kate Weldon LeBlanc with Resolve New England said.
LeBlanc heads up an infertility support group. Her own daughter Sophie was born through IVF. She says calls it an intensely personal and emotional journey between an individual and their doctor, not politicians and judges.
Facing a wave of shock and anger from the decision, Alabama legislators are now preparing separate proposals in the House and Senate that would seek to prevent a fertilized egg from being recognized as a human life or an unborn child under state laws until it is implanted in a woman's uterus.
Alabama Attorney General Marshall does not intend to prosecute IVF providers or families based on the state Supreme Court ruling, Chief Counsel Katherine Robertson said in a statement.
The court’s ruling, treating the embryos the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised questions about what legal liabilities clinics could face during IVF processes, including the freezing, testing and disposal of embryos.
Three IVF providers in Alabama paused their services in the aftermath of the ruling.
Justices ruled last week that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in a mishap at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death claims for their "extrauterine children." Justices cited sweeping language that the GOP-controlled Legislature and voters added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018, saying that the state recognizes the "rights of the unborn child."
The Alabama ruling raises questions about what would become of frozen embryos that are not used in implantation procedures, what financial responsibility patients might have to maintain them if they could not legally be destroyed and what civil and even criminal liabilities medical providers could face throughout the process.
The issue has become a flashpoint on the presidential campaign trail.
Former President Donald Trump said Friday that he would “strongly support the availability of IVF" and called on lawmakers in Alabama to preserve access to the treatment that has become a new flashpoint in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, his last remaining major opponent for the GOP presidential nomination, have both cautioned against an absolute national ban and now have distanced themselves from the Alabama case.
"Trump cannot run from his record, and neither can the millions of women who his actions have hurt,” said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, President Joe Biden’s campaign manager, in a statement.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.