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ALABAMA UNIVERSITY PAUSES IVF TREATMENTS AFTER COURT RULES EMBRYOS
ARE ‘CHILDREN’  
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Brett Wilkins
February 21, 2024
Common Dreams
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_ "This cruel ruling, and the subsequent decision by UAB's health
system, are horrifying signals of what's to come across the country,"
warned the head of one infertility group. _

Image of in-vitro fertilization, cdc.gov

 

Alabama's leading medical school said Wednesday that it has paused in
vitro fertilization procedures due to fear of prosecution after the
state's highest court ruled that frozen embryos are "children."

"We must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians
could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following
the standard of care for IVF treatments," University of Alabama at
Birmingham (UAB) spokesperson Hannah Echols told
[[link removed]]_AL.com_,
adding that she is "saddened" for patients seeking the treatment.

UAB's move follows Friday's theology-ridden ruling
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Supreme Court that embryos are "extrauterine children." Alabama
Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Parker—who espoused
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fundamentalist control of U.S. society during a recent interview with
a QAnon conspiracy theorist—wrote in the ruling
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"human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath
of a holy God."

Barbara Collura, president and CEO of RESOLVE: The National
Infertility Association, said in a statement
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the organization is "absolutely heartbroken for the Alabama family
building community."

"The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system—the largest
healthcare system in the state—has been forced to make an impossible
decision: Pause IVF procedures for those hoping to build their
families, or put their patients and doctors at risk of prosecution,"
she added.

As _AL.com_'s Amy Yurkanin explained:

There are many reasons families turn to IVF treatment. Some women may
have blocked fallopian tubes that won't allow fertilized eggs to
travel to the uterus. In other cases, families can carry genes that
cause fatal diseases and may want to create embryos that can be
tested. In those cases, families will transfer healthy embryos and may
discard or donate those that carry genetic diseases.

"There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are right now in
the middle of a physically and emotionally challenging medical process
to fulfill their dream of a baby," Collura said. "Would-be parents
have invested their hearts, time, and resources. Now, less than a week
after the Alabama Supreme Court's devastating ruling, Alabamans in the
midst of seeking treatment have had their lives and their hopes and
dreams crushed."

"This cruel ruling, and the subsequent decision by UAB's health
system, are horrifying signals of what's to come across the country,"
she added. "We will continue to fight to maintain and increase access
to care for the 1 in 6 adults nationwide who struggle with
infertility."

Calling [[link removed]] the
Alabama ruling "so deeply fucked up," _HuffPost_ senior politics
reporter Jennifer Bendery noted that former U.S. President Donald
Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, "spent years putting people forward
for lifetime federal judgeships who had grave concerns with fertility
treatments like IVF and then Senate Republicans confirmed them."

"Anyone who knows about IVF treatments knows how financially and
emotionally exhaustive this process can be," Bendery added. "And that
it might not even work, after years of this. I feel for these Alabama
women being turned away now as they're already going through this."

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

* In vitro fertilization
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* Alabama
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* Christian fundamentalists
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* Supreme Court Ruling
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* Reproductive rights
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