Roe v. Wade

Florida lawmaker pulls bill following Alabama’s controversial State Supreme Court ruling that “embryos are children.”

Alabama State lawmakers think they’ve found a way to resolve the controversial State Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos “are children.”

The Biden administration will visit Alabama Tuesday in the wake of the State Supreme Court’s controversial ruling that frozen embryos are “children.”

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally protected children is highlighting how support for the idea that a fetus should have the same rights as a person underpins far less dramatic laws and proposals from abortion foes across the U.S.

The recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally protected children is highlighting how support for the idea that a fetus should have the same rights as a person underpins far less dramatic laws and proposals from abortion foes across the U.S.

Alabama lawmakers have begun scrambling for ways to protect in vitro fertilization services after a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children under state law. Three providers paused services in the wake of the ruling. Separate proposals were being prepared in the House and Senate that would seek to prevent a fertilized egg from being recognized as a human life or an unborn child until it is implanted in a woman’s uterus. Governor Kay Ivey said the state wants to foster a culture of life and said that includes “couples hoping and praying to be parents who utilize IVF.” In the meantime, Alabama’s GOP Chairman John Wahl says Democrats are using the ruling for political advantage. APR News Director Pat Duggins spoke with Wahl, and here’s that conversation…

Some Republicans joined Democrats in expressing alarm over a ruling this week by the Alabama Supreme Court that jeopardized future access to in vitro fertilization, giving allies of President Joe Biden new fuel for their efforts to center abortion access in the presidential election.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that couples who were trying in vitro fertilization and lost frozen embryos in an accident at a south Alabama storage facility can sue under the state's wrongful death law. Since then, three providers have paused the often-used fertility treatments while they sort out the legal implications.

Additional in vitro fertilization providers in Alabama paused parts of their treatment Thursday, sending patients scrambling to make other plans after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are legally considered children.

The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. This is raising concerns about how the decision could affect invitro fertilization, commonly known as IVF. The fertility treatment involves retrieving a woman's eggs and combining them with a man's sperm in a lab dish. A few days after fertilization, one or more embryos are placed in the uterus and healthy embryos that are not transferred may be frozen and stored. Frozen embryos can be used for future pregnancies, and are stored at places such as hospital labs or reproductive medicine centers. APR News Director Pat Duggins spoke with Robin Marty, Executive Director of the West Alabama Women's Center, and a voice for reproductive rights in the State. Here's that conversation