What’s Next for Alabama IVF Patients? | April 2024
April 2024 | Volume 15, Issue 9
Watch the full video and find the accompanying article from ABC News.
According to the article, since the Alabama Supreme Court recently upended in vitro fertilization access in the state with its ruling that frozen embryos are considered children, increasing public outcry has spurred hope for legislative movement in the Statehouse.
“Unborn Children Are ‘Children’”
The Alabama high court ruled that "unborn children are 'children,'" which led several facilities in the state to halt IVF treatments amid concerns that their practices could run into legal troubles.
Reaction to the Ruling
Multiple proposals in the Alabama House and Senate could restore IVF access in the state, authored by both Democrats and Republicans. But the clearest path is for a bill that is set to be introduced by State Senator Tim Melson in the Senate. The bill is expected to describe an embryo as a "potential" life but clarify that it is not a human life under law until it is transferred to a uterus and determined to be a viable pregnancy.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey says she supports the measure.
To turn up the pressure on lawmakers, advocates have planned a large gathering at the state Capitol. Organizers say there could be hundreds of people -- including doctors and IVF patients -- who will travel to Montgomery to protest the state Supreme Court decision and make their voices heard in the state legislature.
The "day of action" is planned to coincide with a hearing about Melson's bill before the Senate Health Committee. It is expected to be a public hearing, and people will testify with personal stories about their IVF journeys. Advocates say they have more than 50 people willing to testify so far.
Alabama House Minority Leader Representative Anthony Daniels told the media that he hopes legislation will pass both chambers soon to restore IVF treatments in the state.
Doctors at the three Alabama clinics that have paused IVF say it is unlikely they will restart treatments until legislation is passed to protect IVF, or until the Alabama Supreme Court reconsiders its opinion.
In the recent ruling, the court set a new precedent by determining that embryos are children, opening the door to civil and potentially criminal lawsuits for people who handle them. Within a few days, roughly half of the state's IVF clinics paused treatment for fear that they could face wrongful death lawsuits -- or potentially criminal charges -- for discarding unused embryos, a routine part of IVF.
The Federal Response
At the federal level, Biden administration officials have yet to announce significant policy options to protect IVF access in Alabama, insisting that their options to use executive action to protect abortion rights, including in ways that would keep IVF intact, are limited.
While there have been preliminary conversations over the past week about potential guidance, nothing has been finalized or decided, an administration official told the media.
The Biden administration’s top health official, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, will visit Birmingham, Alabama in the wake of the ruling. Becerra is expected to "hear directly from families, health care professionals, and others who are impacted by the decision," the department said in a news release.
In a recent interview, White House Gender Policy Council Director Jen Klein suggested examples of the kinds of actions the administration could be exploring.
"Absolutely, there are things that the administration can and has done already. The president has issued three executive orders and a presidential memorandum to protect access to abortion and contraception, to protect patients' privacy, protect the right to travel, and … the right to medication abortion, which as you know is more than 50 percent of abortions in this country," she said.
Klein also said that the White House would likely hold meetings with impacted doctors and patients from Alabama "soon" in Washington, like how they held meetings with abortion-rights advocates from Mississippi after the Dobbs ruling.
Fundamentally, however, the White House insists -- as they have for over a year -- that Congress would need to pass a bill to put a nationwide right to reproductive care back on the books.
Discussion Questions
- What is IVF?
As indicated in the article, “IVF” stands for in vitro fertilization.
It is a process of fertilization where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro (“in glass”). The process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman’s ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from their ovaries, and letting a man’s sperm fertilize them in a culture medium in a laboratory. After the fertilized egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for 2-6 days, it is transferred by catheter to the uterus, to establish a successful pregnancy.
IVF is a type of assisted reproductive technology used for infertility treatment, gestational surrogacy, and in combination with pre-implantation genetic testing, avoiding transmission of genetic conditions.
Assisted by egg donation and IVF, many women may be past their reproductive years, have infertile partners, have idiopathic female-fertility issues, or have reached menopause, but they can still become pregnant. After the IVF treatment, some couples get pregnant without any fertility treatments.
In 2023, it was estimated that 12 million children had been born worldwide using IVF and other assisted reproduction techniques. - What is a wrongful death lawsuit, and why are health care providers reticent to restart IVF treatment considering the Alabama Supreme Court decision?
A wrongful death lawsuit is a tort action. It is a claim against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives. In wrongful death cases, survivors are compensated for the harm and losses they have suffered after losing a loved one.
Any fatality caused by the wrongful acts of another may result in a wrongful death claim. Wrongful death claims are often based upon death resulting from negligence (for example, medical malpractice).
Some healthcare providers are reticent to restart IVF treatment in Alabama because they are worried about potentially being held liable for wrongful death for the frozen embryo, the “person” according to the Alabama Supreme Court. - In your reasoned opinion, should an issue like IVF “transcend” politics? Is it practical to believe that such an issue could transcend politics? Explain your response.
This is an opinion question, so student responses may vary. In your author’s opinion, ideally, an issue like IVF would transcend politics. However, your author is a realist and understands that issues like this can (and do) interject into the “political psyche” of the nation. Politics is defined as the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals. Politics can include any range, number, or types of issues that politicians and their constituents are willing to entertain. In large part, the “agenda” depends on what politicians and their constituents prioritize.