Alabama’s Embryo Decision

On February 16, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling declaring that embryos created through in vitro fertilization should be considered children under the law. The plaintiffs of the case are three couples who all received in vitro fertilization treatment at an Alabama fertility clinic and gave birth but produced additional embryos. The additional embryos were cryopreserved in the clinic, which is located within a hospital, to be used later. In December of 2020, a patient of the hospital accessed the preservation unit and opened one of the tanks in which the frozen embryos were. The embryos are contained in below-freezing temperatures, thus, when the patient put their hand inside they were badly burned and dropped the embryos which destroyed them. The couples brought lawsuits against the clinic for the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, an Alabama statute. At the trial court, the case was dismissed saying the statute did not apply, so the couple appealed the case and brought it to the Alabama Supreme Court, the highest state court. The Supreme Court of Alabama disagreed and ruled that the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act did apply to the frozen embryos.  Following this decision, two out of the eight fertility clinics in Alabama temporarily halted their treatments out of fear of potential liability should harm come to the embryos under their care. This ruling has raised concerns within the medical community, particularly regarding the legal ramifications of discarding unused embryos, a common practice in in vitro fertilization procedures. However, groups representing the defendants of the case have filed an application asking the court to retry the case. The Medical Association of the State of Alabama and the Alabama Hospital Association filed a brief Friday supporting the request for a rehearing.