The Alabama Supreme Court chose not to revisit its controversial ruling that classifies frozen embryos as children under state law Friday, CBS News reported.
The Alabama Supreme Court rejected a request to reconsider its ruling February that treats frozen embryos as children under state law, according to CBS News. The court, by a 7-2 majority, dismissed the request without comment amid domestic and international backlash. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit by three couples whose frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed at a storage facility. The court’s decision enables them to pursue wrongful death claims by classifying the destroyed embryos as “extrauterine children.”
The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday declined to reconsider a controversial ruling that said frozen embryos are considered children under a state law. https://t.co/txwljD4e1d
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 3, 2024
Following the February decision, several Alabama fertility clinics temporarily halted in vitro fertilization (IVF) services, fearing potential civil liabilities. Despite the state legislature later passing laws to shield these providers from civil lawsuits, the legal environment for reproductive services in Alabama remains uncertain, the outlet stated.
Mobile Infirmary Medical Center, central to the lawsuits that led to the ruling, announced it will cease offering IVF treatments by the end of 2024 amid ongoing legal issues. This move highlights the impact of the court’s decision on the availability of fertility treatments in Alabama, CBS News reported. (RELATED: Republican Gov Signs Law Protecting IVF After Landmark Ruling Declared Frozen Embryos ‘Children’)
A gavel and a block is pictured on the judge’s bench in this illustration picture taken in the Sussex County Court of Chancery in Georgetown, Delaware, U.S., June 9, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Dissenting Justice Will Sellers raised concerns about the broad and unintended consequences of the original decision.
“The majority opinion on original submission had significant and sweeping implications for individuals who were entirely unassociated with the parties in the case. Many of those individuals had no reason to believe that a legal and routine medical procedure would be delayed, much less denied, as a result of this Court’s opinion,” Sellers said in a statement, according to CBS News.
The Medical Association of the State of Alabama and the Alabama Hospital Association supported the request for a rehearing, CBS News reported. They argued that despite the resumption of IVF services, the ruling continues to cast a shadow of uncertainty over the medical community.