In Vitro Embryos Are Children Protected Under Law: Alabama Supreme Court

The Alabama Supreme Court declared on Feb. 16 that human embryos kept outside the uterus are children according to state regulations and are thus covered under wrongful death laws. The ruling came as part of a lawsuit in which plaintiffs claimed damages for embryos stored at a cryogenic facility that was destroyed. In its decision, the Alabama Supreme Court pointed out that the central question in the case was whether unborn children located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed are exempted from the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. “The answer to that question is no: the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location,” the court decided in a 7–2 ruling....