Alabama court ruling on IVF ‘outrageous and unacceptable’ — Biden
US President Joe Biden on Thursday slammed the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling that frozen embryos are children, a decision that has led IVF clinics in the state to halt operations because of their increased exposure to wrongful death lawsuits.
Two clinics have issued statements announcing pauses, with reports of a third following suit.
"The disregard for women's ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable," Biden said in a statement.
The pauses come days aer an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit filed against a fertility clinic, under the state's 1872 Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.
The suit was filed by three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed by a patient who "managed to wander into" a cryogenic nursery where they were stored, and accidentally dropped several of them on the floor.
A lower court ruled the frozen embryos could not be considered a "person" or "child" and dismissed the wrongfuldeath claim.
But Alabama's high court, in a 7-2 ruling last week, disagreed, saying "the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies on its face to all unborn children, without limitation."
"It applies to all children, born and unborn," Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in an opinion sprinkled with quotes from the Bible.
"The People of Alabama have declared the public policy of this State to be that unborn human life is sacred," Mitchell added, in a reference to the conservative state's near-total ban of abortion.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Center for Reproductive Medicine at Mobile Infirmary both quickly announced pauses to IVF procedures in the decision's wake, with a third, Alabama Fertility in Birmingham, reportedly following their lead.
Mark Nix, president and CEO of Infirmary Health, said: "The recent Alabama Supreme Court decision has sadly le us with no choice but to pause IVF treatments for patients. We understand the burden this places on deserving families who want to bring babies into this world and who have no alternative options for conceiving."