In a ruling that sends tremors through the reproductive rights circles because it could targets artificial fertilization, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and that someone who destroys them can be held liable for their deaths, the Washington Post reports.
The case does not involve the intentional destruction of embryos that were not used in fertilization, a common practice after a patient ends in vitro fertilization treatments where multiple fertilized eggs are implanted in the patient’s uterus with doctors making multiple attempts. In this case, an individual accidentally dropped and broke a container holding a couple’s fertilized eggs, destroying them. The couple sued the individual for wrongful death under state law.
“{Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act] applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation,” the Alabama Supreme Court wrote. “It is not the role of this Court to craft a new limitation based on our own view of what is or is not wise public policy. That is especially true where, as here, the People of this State have adopted a Constitutional amendment directly aimed at stopping courts from excluding ‘unborn life’ from legal protection.”