IVF clinics to be protected by law after frozen embryos classed as 'children'
Alabama’s Republican Governor Kay Ivey has signed a bill to protect doctors and IVF clinics from potential legal liability following a court ruling that said frozen embryos should be considered children.
The Alabama Supreme Court last month ruled that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their "extrauterine children." The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics.
The decision caused outrage from IVF providers and families, with three major IVF providers pausing services out of fear of prosecution. However, Ivey signed legislation into law on Wednesday after it was approved in a late-night session by lawmakers scrambling to address a wave of criticism.
"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," Ivey said. Doctors from at least one clinic said they would resume IVF services on Thursday.
The new law, which took effect immediately, shields providers from prosecution and civil lawsuits "for the damage to or death of an embryo" during IVF services. Civil lawsuits could be pursued against manufacturers of IVF-related goods, such as the nutrient-rich solutions used to grow embryos, but damages would be capped to "the price paid for the impacted in vitro cycle."
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IVF patient Julie Cohen holds up a photo of her children (Getty Images)Doctors from Alabama Fertility, one of the clinics that paused IVF services, watched as the bill got final passage. They said it will allow them to resume embryo transfers "starting tomorrow."
"We have some transfers tomorrow and some Friday. This means that we will be able to do embryo transfers and hopefully have more pregnancies and babies in the state of Alabama," Dr. Mamie McLean said after the vote.
Liz Goldman was at home giving her daughter a bottle as she watched the Senate vote on a livestream. Ms Goldman, whose daughter was conceived through IVF after a uterus transplant, hopes to become pregnant with a second child but her plans were cast into doubt when IVF services were paused.
"I'm super thankful. The past two-and-a-half weeks have been the most stressful time of my journey and I've been through a lot," she said.
Families were impacted after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through IVF are considered children (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a group representing IVF providers across the country, says the legislation does not go far enough. Sean Tipton, a spokesperson for the organization, said this week that the legislation doesn't correct the fundamental problem, which is the court ruling "conflating fertilized eggs with children."
The bill's sponsors, Republican Sen. Tim Melson and Republican Rep. Terri Collins, said the proposal was the best immediate solution they could find to get IVF services resumed. "The goal is to get these clinics back open and women going through their treatment and have successful pregnancies," Melson said.
The leaders of several anti-abortion and conservative groups, including Students for Life Action and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, urged Ivey to veto the bill, which they called a "rash reaction to a troubling situation." "Any legislation on this issue must take into consideration the millions of human lives who face the fate of either being discarded or frozen indefinitely, violating the inherent dignity they possess by virtue of being human," they wrote.
Doctors from at least one clinic said they would resume IVF services on Thursday (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)Melson and Collins said lawmakers may have to explore additional action, but said it's a difficult subject. "I think there is too much difference of opinion on when actual life begins. A lot of people say conception. A lot of people say implantation. Others say heartbeat," Melson said when asked about proposals to say frozen embryos couldn't be considered children under state law.
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Melson, who is a doctor, said any additional legislation should be "based on science and not just gut feelings." "I can tell you right now there are a lot of different opinions on what the right thing to do is," he said.
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