In the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that embryos created via in-vitro fertilization (IVF) are human children, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has made it clear that he does not intend to prosecute families — or providers — for using IVF.
“Attorney General [Steve] Marshall has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers,” read a statement from Katherine Robertson, the chief counsel in the AG’s office. Marshall’s statement comes after some of the state’s fertility clinics announced they would be halting IVF procedures for fear of prosecution.
The court ruling has made waves through the country as it is the first time that embryos that are created for assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have been legally recognized as preborn children. The controversy underscores the unfortunate disconnect that many people have when they fail to recognize that life begins at the moment of conception — even if that conception occurs outside the traditional methods. As such, all embryos deserve protection. Instead, standard IVF practices dictate that many of these embryos are created and then destroyed in the process. Others are suspended in limbo, indefinitely frozen as their parents or the clinics themselves are unsure what to do with them.
Live Action founder and president Lila Rose previously praised the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling.
“This decision made by the Alabama Supreme Court affirms the scientific reality that a new human life begins at the moment of fertilization,” she said. “Each person, from the tiniest embryo to an elder nearing the end of his life, has incalculable value that deserves and is guaranteed legal protection. This ruling, which involved a wrongful-death claim brought by parents against a fertility clinic that negligently caused the death of their children, rightly acknowledged the humanity of unborn children created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and is an important step towards applying equal protection for all.”
