The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.

Ruling sparks alarm over church-state separation

Fallout continues in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling last week that frozen embryos are children. This unprecedented decision critics say could have a chilling effect on access to IVF treatments in the state and beyond.

University of Alabama at Birmingham, which has halted its IVF program, says the state’s supreme court ruling could expose doctors and patients to criminal charges.

Chief Justice Tom Parker issued his concurring opinion last week, stating:

“In summary, the theologically based view of the sanctity of life adopted by the People of Alabama encompasses the following: (1) God made every person in His image; (2) each person therefore has a value that far exceeds the ability of human beings to calculate; and (3) human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself.”

Christian religious conservatives argue humans should not be playing God in a laboratory and that life begins at conception. The Catholic Church, in particular, opposes IVF, though some religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism, have no hesitations about the procedure.

“Now we’re in a place where government officials feel emboldened to say the quiet part out loud and directly challenge the separation of church and state, a foundational part of our democracy,” said Rachel Laser, CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

She said Parker’s opinion was just the latest example — and a brazen one at that — of government officials advocating for Christian nationalism. This movement seeks to privilege Christianity and fuse Christian and American identity.

Because religious groups have different opinions about when life begins, “it’s quite problematic to see a judge essentially embedding a Christian view into state law,” said Greer Donley, an associate professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in bioethics and health.

The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. Justices, citing anti-abortion language in the Alabama Constitution, ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”

“This ruling states that a fertilized egg, which is a clump of cells, is now a person. It really puts into question the practice of IVF,” Barbara Collura, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, told The Associated Press Tuesday. The group called the decision a “terrifying development for the 1-in-6 people impacted by infertility” who need in-vitro fertilization.

According to CNN, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said he “has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers” in a statement from Chief Counsel Katherine Robertson.

Marshall’s statement comes a week after the state Supreme Court ruling embryos — whether they’re within or out of a uterus — are children and would be protected under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, which allows parents to sue for punitive damages when their child dies.

President Joe Biden said, “The disregard for women’s ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable,” he said. Vice President Kamala Harris also slammed the court’s decision, saying it sets a dangerous precedent for “robbing women of the freedom to decide when and how to build a family.”

Lindsay Heller, an IVF mom and attorney, thinks IVF decisions should be between families and doctors ‒ not courts and religion.

“IVF might fall by the wayside if you’re going by someone’s religious values about how life is created,” she said. “A doctor isn’t going to put their license on the line to help someone get pregnant.”

What is your opinion? Church and religion? How far should a court reach?

2024© All Rights Reserved. (The Caffeinated Writer / B.A. Little)

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