On March 6, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 159 into law, allowing for controversial immunity for providers of in vitro fertilization (IVF) should they destroy embryos in their care.
SB 159 comes after Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled Feb. 16 in LePage v. Mobile Infirmary Clinic, Inc. that frozen embryos are considered children under state law.
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Alabama Supreme Court rules embryos are children
The case originated when a patient, wandered without authorization into the cryogenic nursery at the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center, removed several embryos stored at such an extremely cold temperature, and dropped the embryos when they burnt the patient’s hand. This resulted in the destruction of the embryos, including those that belonged to three couples, who sued for negligence and wrongful death. Initially, the case was struck down when Mobile County Circuit Judge Jill Phillips ruled embryos were not human beings, and therefore the parents could not seek wrongful death damages.
However, the Alabama Supreme Court overturned that ruling and found that frozen embryos are considered children under the Alabama Constitution’s Sanctity of Life Amendment.
Justice James Mitchell wrote in the ruling, “Unborn children are ‘children’ under the Act, without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics.”
The ruling also states, “[T]he Wrongful Death of a Minor Act is sweeping and unqualified. It applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation. 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.”
Impact on IVF clinics
Prior to the decision, rather than children, frozen embryos were considered property in Alabama. The Alabama Supreme Court’s decision caused panic among IVF providers, leading to some facilities halting services altogether and others to cease with plans to destroy embryos, including embryos that had been abandoned by their parents.
Barbara Collura, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, told the Associated Press, that this was because the decision raised “questions for providers and patients, including if they can freeze future embryos created during fertility treatment or if patients could ever donate or destroy unused embryos.”
A look at the new law: Senate Bill 159
To help reopen IVF clinics, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed SB 159 into law last Wednesday. She also released a statement that reads, "Alabama works to foster a culture of life, and that certainly includes IVF."
"I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF,” she continued.
The law, which went into effect immediately upon being signed, clarifies IVF providers’ concerns and ensures them that “no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving goods or services related to in vitro fertilization.” SB 159 also states the law is to be applied “retroactively to any act, omission, or course of services which are not the subject of litigation on the effective date of this act.”
This unfortunately means that no families, other than the ones who are currently pursuing wrongful death claims, can bring civil or criminal suits against IVF service providers should their embryos be destroyed.
Pro-lifers divided on IVF
While some pro-life advocates applaud the use of IVF for family expansion, others see this new law as a slippery slope that would grant civil and criminal immunity to IVF clinics that destroy embryos without parental consent or be intentionally reckless with the handling of embryos, regarded by pro-life supporters as a human life from the moment of conception.
Tweet This: Pro-life supporters believe human life begins at the moment of conception
A coalition of 13 pro-life leaders penned a letter against the bill before it became law, which urged the governor to veto the measure.
The letter reads, “While we understand and share the legislators’ concern for families struggling with infertility, this unjust measure will ultimately harm these families and jeopardize the lives of precious children. Any political determination that takes up the question of how we treat and protect human lives — no matter how young — must resist an ideology that treats human beings as expendable commodities.”
The letter also states that the bill “slam[s] the door on any protections for the most vulnerable Alabamians, prevent[s] families from seeking justice for the death or harm caused to their children, and leave[s] a trail of destructive, immoral implications in its wake.”
The pro-life coalition consisted of representatives for Live Action, Students for Life Action, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, March for Life Action, Americans United for Life, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Human Coalition Action, Ethics and the Public Policy Center, CatholicVote, Alabama Policy Institute, ALCAP, Eagle Forum, and the Family Research Council.
In addition, the pro-lie group explained the law could have “catastrophic consequences and would withdraw existing legal protections for Alabama’s most vulnerable persons, simply because those persons were created through IVF” and “provide blanket civil and criminal immunity even for criminal and intentionally tortious acts committed in connection with IVF — such as a doctor who secretly uses his own sperm to create embryos, deliberately implants someone else’s child into a different IVF mother’s womb, or intentionally destroys the embryos he creates against the wishes of the parents.”
