IVF, in vitro fertilization, treatment is an incredibly common choice for those wishing to have kids through fertility treatment. It is the process of gathering eggs from a woman and fertilizing the egg outside of the body, cryopreserving them and keeping a few for implantation. This treatment method is most often used to ensure that genetic problems are not passed onto children by testing the embryos for certain genes before implantation. 14% of American couples have used artificial insemination, and 2% have specifically used IVF treatment (Penn Medicine). Between 1987 and 2015, 1 million babies were born in the United States through in vitro fertilization.
Now, the right to IVF treatment is in jeopardy due to a landmark Alabama Supreme Court case. Settled on February 16th, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that destruction of embryos in IVF treatment constitutes death which is in violation of the state’s “Wrongful Death of a Minor” statue. This case has set a powerful precedent in a post-Dobbs United States (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization- a landmark case that overrules Roe v. Wade, making the right to abortion unable to be protected on a federal level). It has established that cryopreserved embryos, in these treatment facilities, can be considered “extrauterine unborn children.” However, it is common practice to only use a number of the cells created and to discard those remaining. Due to this ruling, most IVF clinics in Alabama have paused their treatment services, causing dismay for patients in the state and across the US.
Not only does this set a precedent for women’s health, but it is also an incredible financial burden for those undergoing IVF treatment during the hearing of the case. The decision in this case has led to financial uncertainty for those who paid $10-20 thousand to have a child, only for the process to be on an unpredictable hiatus.
The decision to not only give fetuses the rights of fully developed people, as Alabama had previously established, but to also give stored embryos these same rights, shows the prioritization of “unborn children” over women’s health and couples’ family planning. Not only is there a complete ban on abortion in Alabama, unless “doing so is necessary to preserve the mother’s life or health or unless the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest” (AL Code 26-23B-5 (2022)), but the same laws (“Wrongful Death of a Minor”) are being used to prevent reproduction.
These laws control and limit women’s reproductive options to appease the (86%) conservative population of Alabama without medical, economic, or personal regard for the people who are affected by this policy.
