Alabama Reproductive Legislation
Alabama Reproductive Legislation
By: Campbell Key
Since the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, reproductive rights have been a key focus of political debate. With the precedent of this decision, many controversial state laws have been passed, limiting reproductive healthcare access.
On February 16th of 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court overturned two previous lawsuits made by three couples when their embryos were accidentally destroyed as a result of a patient of Mobile hospital attempting to grab embryos from the freezer they were stored in and became freezer burned, dropping and destroying the embryos.
The overturning of this case found that embryos are classified as minors, and therefore should be protected under the Minor Act of 1872. This ruling stemmed from a couple suing an IVF treatment center for accidentally destroying their embryos. This decision opened up the possibility for other couples to sue these IVF treatment facilities as embryo loss is common in IVF and is even planned when a couple no longer needs the embryos they created.
Since IVF has allowed for the successful birth of many babies, the weeks following this decision resulted in outrage and prompted the mayor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, to act. While this decision could not be overturned, the mayor provided civil and criminal immunity to those performing IVF, allowing it to continue.
On March 26th, Marilyn Lands, a democrat, won a State House seat in Alabama (the seat opened up after the previous holder, David Cole, resigned and admitted to voter fraud). In her campaign, she supported women’s access to reproductive rights, particularly regarding IVF treatments. Her stance is especially important as Alabama’s abortion law outlaws abortion entirely. While her election does not change the majority ruling in the House, she did state her goal in overturning this no-exceptions decision and fully ensuring access to IVF.
This IVF ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court serves as a significant motivating factor for people to vote for politicians who support increased reproductive access. In Biden’s State of the Union Address given on March 7th of 2024, he reiterated his support for reproductive access and desire to reinstate Roe v Wade if given a willing Congress. He also expressed his disagreement with the ruling that embryos should be given the same protection as minors, a ruling that hurt IVF clinics in Alabama.
In addition, the Biden administration opposes court rulings that will make gaining access to Mifepristone, a drug used to terminate pregnancies, much more difficult. With the increasing uncertainty of abortion access, these drugs have been increasingly relied on as they can be taken over the counter . On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case, which asked the Court to ban mifepristone. This ruling is expected this summer.
IVF’s ruling in Alabama has spurred many conversations on reproductive health access, especially in upcoming political campaigns. The upcoming presidential election will reveal how reproductive healthcare access is prioritized by the opposing parties, especially amidst ongoing discourse on various forms of reproductive healthcare.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/takeaways-from-bidens-state-of-the-union-address-c7ef6213
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/26/supreme-court-abortion-pill-mifepristone/
https://cnn.com/2024/02/20/us/alabama-embryo-law-ruling-supreme-court/index.html
