Frozen Embryos Are Like 'Children,' Alabama Supreme Court Says

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The Supreme Court of Alabama

Agence France-Presse

The Alabama Supreme Court considers embryos preserved by freezing to be “ children”, a decision strongly criticized on Tuesday by the American medical community and the White House.

This court decision , issued Friday, could have devastating consequences for in vitro fertilization procedures in the southern US state, according to Resolve, the leading American association dedicated to infertility.

Women across the country are suffering the consequences devastating actions of Republican elected officials.

A quote from Karine Jean-Pierre, White House spokesperson

Friday's decision exactly reflects the kind of chaos that was expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling establishing the right to abortion, said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.

In June 2022, the United States Supreme Court ended the constitutional guarantee of the right to abortion, leading many states, including ;#x27;Alabama, to restrict or prohibit it.

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The defense of the right to abortion has since become a hobbyhorse of the Democrats, ahead of the presidential election in November.

At the& #x27;origin of Friday's decision: a complaint from three couples against a clinic practicing in vitro fertilization.

Citing an 1872 law on wrongful deaths of minors, they filed suit after another patient, upon entering a storage facility, accidentally destroyed their embryos .

A court initially dismissed the complaint, finding that an embryo could not be qualified as a person or a child.

But on Friday, with a majority of seven judges to two, all Republicans, the Alabama Supreme Court on the contrary found that the law on infant deaths ;#x27;applies to all unborn children, without limit.

This applies to all children, born or unborn, writes Judge Jay Mitchell in the text of the decision, peppered with biblical references.

The people of Alabama have declared that it is the policy of this State that unborn human life is sacred, they write in reference to the ban on ;#x27;abortion within the state.

We believe that every human being, from the moment of conception, is made in the image of God.

A quote from Jay Mitchell , Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court

This new legal framework could make practices like in vitro fertilization, denounced the NGO Resolve.

L'Medical Association of The state of Alabama had warned that such a decision could lead to the closure of fertility clinics and the movement of specialists to other states to practice their activity without fear of legal problems.