Alabama lawmakers race to shield IVF services in wake of state Supreme Court ruling
CBSN
Montgomery, Ala. — Lawmakers began scrambling for ways to protect Alabama in vitro fertilization services after multiple providers paused treatment in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children under a state law.
Facing a wave of shock and anger from the decision, legislators prepared 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 law until it is implanted in a woman's uterus.
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 the state recognizes the "rights of the unborn child."
