The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that frozen embryos qualify as children under state law in cases involving the wrongful death of children.
The ruling Friday was issued for two wrongful death lawsuits brought by In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) patients against a fertility clinic after another patient removed embryos from a storage unit and killed them in December 2020.
“The parties to these cases have raised many difficult questions, including ones about the ethical status of extrauterine children, the application of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution to such children, and the public-policy implications of treating extrauterine children as human beings,” the Alabama Supreme Court said in its decision.
“But the Court today need not address these questions because, as explained below, the relevant statutory text is clear: the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies on its face to all unborn children, without limitation.”
The plaintiffs also filed negligence claims against the clinic for compensatory damages to be pleaded if the Alabama Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court did not rule the frozen embryos were children.
A trial court previously ruled in favor of the clinic and its argument that the embryos do not fit the definition of a child because they are not in a woman’s uterus, therefore the patients lack standing to sue. The lower court also ruled against plaintiffs’ negligence claims based on longstanding Alabama legal standards against receiving damages for the loss of life.
“Here, the text of the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act is sweeping and unqualified. It applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation. It is not the role of this Court to craft a new limitation based on our own view of what is or is not wise public policy,” wrote Justice Jay Mitchell on behalf of the majority.
“That is especially true where, as here, the People of this State have adopted a Constitutional amendment directly aimed at stopping courts from excluding ‘unborn life’ from legal protection.”
Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote a concurring opinion that primarily explores the meaning of the “sanctity of unborn life” with theological arguments grounded in Biblical teachings. His opinion cites renowned theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustin in addition to Biblical passages.
Justice Greg Cook dissented against the majority for expanding the definition of the Wrongful Death Act and warned the ruling could put an end to IVF treatment in Alabama.
“And, the main opinion’s holding almost certainly ends the creation of frozen embryos through in vitro fertilization (‘IVF’) in Alabama,” he said. He was the only justice to fully dissent against the majority opinion.