Pro-Life Activists Embrace Alabama IVF Ruling

The Alabama Supreme Court’s finding last month that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are considered minor children under state law has been hailed by the pro-life movement. But the impact of the ruling was soon blunted when the Alabama Legislature passed a bill shielding IVF providers and customers from liability for embryo deaths, which was signed into law by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on March 6. Courts in other pro-life states, however, may soon follow the Alabama Supreme Court’s example, creating new battlefields in reproductive law. Traditionally, courts have treated embryos as property in family law litigation, and the Feb. 16 ruling is thought to be the first time a U.S. court has conferred “personhood” rights on an embryo that has not been implanted in a human body....