“This is religious tyranny”: Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are children, prompts criticism online

On Friday, February 16, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) could be regarded as children under state law. This might make it more difficult for future generations of the state's residents to receive IVF treatment.

This ruling was made by the court in a lawsuit filed by a group of patients who lost their frozen embryos in December 2020. A patient at the medical center took the embryos out of a cryogenic storage unit and dropped them to the ground.

According to the Alabama Reflector, Justice Jay Mitchell stated in a majority opinion that frozen embryos were not exempt from liability under a 2018 state constitutional amendment requiring the state to "ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child" or under an 1872 law permitting civil lawsuits for the wrongful death of children.

Once the news went viral, netizens took to X to criticize the ruling.

Netizens criticise the ruling (Image via X / @Indivisible19NY)

---

Netizens react as Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos as children

The ruling of embryos as children sparked outrage among netizens (Image via Pexels)

In vitro fertilization (IVF) activists are concerned that the state may ban IVF due to the state's Supreme Court ruling on Friday, February 16, stating that frozen embryos outside of the womb are "children."

As per AP News, the ruling overturned the dismissal of a "wrongful death" case filed by three couples against an Alabama hospital and fertility clinic. They were receiving reproductive treatments. The lawsuit was dismissed by Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Jill Parrish.

The Supreme Court found that state law did not specify what state an unborn child is to be in. Neither did it address the issue of whether "extrauterine children" should be considered human beings in its conclusion.

Netizens took to X to express their opinion and condemn the ruling.

---

Alabama Supreme Court declares a new rule regarding frozen embryos

The ruling may have significant effects for Alabamans having IVF procedures, as the state has a nearly total prohibition on abortion.

The Center for Reproductive Medicine was sued twice by the plaintiffs after they claimed that the clinic had broken Alabama's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, which covers unborn kids.

The plaintiffs also sought compensatory damages, alleging the clinic's negligence. However, the negligence claims could only be made if Alabama courts or the US Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were not kids.

As per Healthline, Associate Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in a statement,

“Man’s creation in God’s image is the basis of the general prohibition on the intentional taking of human life.”

As per the Alabama Reflector, Mitchell further wrote,

“The upshot here is that the phrase ‘minor child’ means the same thing in the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act as it does in everyday parlance: ‘an unborn or recently born’ individual member of the human species, from fertilization until the age of majority,” Mitchell wrote. “Nothing about the Act narrows that definition to unborn children who are physically ‘in utero.’ Instead, the Act provides a cause of action for the death of any ‘minor child,’ without exception or limitation.”

Healthline has further reported that Mitchell also said,

“Therefore to kill man is to deface God’s image, and so injury is not only done to man, but also to God… Finally, the doctrine of the sanctity of life is rooted in the Sixth Commandment: “You shall not murder”.”

Chief Justice Tom Parker issued a similar opinion and quoted the Bible to discuss the meaning of the phrase “the sanctity of unborn life” in the Alabama Constitution. He said,

“Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”

As per the Reflector, Justice Greg Cook, who issued the only full dissent, said the 1872 Wrongful Death Act did not define “minor child” and that meaning has not been changed since then. Justice Cook further noted that the state legislature should address this issue.

“The main opinion’s holding will mean that the creation of frozen embryos will end in Alabama. No rational medical provider would continue to provide services for creating and maintaining frozen embryos knowing that they must continue to maintain such frozen embryos forever or risk the penalty of a Wrongful Death Act claim for punitive damages.”

According to Healthline, Kelly Baden, the vice president for public policy at the Guttmacher Institute, referred to the decision as "radical."

---

The court hasn’t said anything further regarding the entire thing.