Judge drops suit tied to 2017 abortion

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama judge has dismissed a wrongful-death lawsuit filed on behalf on an aborted embryo by a man who was upset that his ex-girlfriend ended her pregnancy.

Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer ruled Friday that Ryan Magers could not lodge a wrongful-death claim over a legal abortion. Magers had sued the Alabama clinic where he believed that his ex-girlfriend obtained an abortion pill in 2017, on behalf of himself and the estate of the aborted embryo.

The Alabama case, which attempted to vest the embryo with legal rights, drew national attention in March after a probate judge allowed Magers to open a legal estate for the aborted embryo called “Baby Roe” in court filings. In seeking to open the estate, Magers pointed to a newly approved state constitutional amendment that says Alabama recognizes the “rights of unborn children.” The probate judge’s decision allowed Magers to represent the estate of the aborted embryo in the litigation.

In the brief order, Comer wrote that Magers didn’t assert that the defendants were engaged in unlawful conduct and the wrongful-death claims are “precluded by existing state and federal laws pertaining to the conduct in question.”

The ruling says that although Magers placed “great significance to the probate court’s” decision, Comer found the probate court’s process “to be ministerial in nature.” The phrase means it follows a prescribed procedure.

J. Brent Helms, an attorney representing Magers, said they had anticipated the decision and that Magers is weighing whether to appeal.