Republicans, who were already on the defensive over abortion, are struggling to contain the fallout from the decision rendered on February 16 by the Supreme Court of Alabama, one of the most conservative states in the United States.
Almost unanimously by its nine Republican judges (only one voted against), the high court of this southern state qualified the frozen embryos as“ectopic children” deserving constitutional protection, a first in the United States. The President of the Court, Tom Parker, 72, argued that the state having adopted “a vision of the sanctity of life based on theology”he could not “destroy human life without incurring the wrath of God”. Even before birth, he explained, “All human beings bear the image of God. Their lives cannot be destroyed without erasing His glory. »
Women with their babies in their arms, carrying signs “It’s thanks to IVF that I became a mother”doctors showing photos of children born thanks to in vitro fertilization, patients during the procedure and panicked by the threat weighing on artificial procreation techniques: Wednesday February 28, several hundred people demonstrated their disapproval in front of the headquarters of the local assembly, in Montgomery, the state capital.
Stirs across the country
Inside, elected officials on the Health Committee were examining a bill urgently introduced by a group of Republicans to protect clinics and doctors against lawsuits that could arise from the Supreme Court’s decision. This practically put an end to the practice of in vitro fertilization in this State. The University of Alabama at Birmingham has paused its IVF program, along with three private clinics. Some medical transportation companies refuse to move patients’ frozen embryos out of state for fear of legal action if they are destroyed.
Speaking as 14 States began, in 2023, to study the codification of the concept of “ legal personality of the fetus » (adopted by Georgia and Missouri), Alabama’s decision caused a stir across the country, where in vitro fertilization is widely used. Nearly 2% of women aged 15 to 44 have already used it, according to a Pew Research Center analysis based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Caught between their voters, a majority of whom approve of assisted procreation, and the anti-abortion conservatives whom they badly need during an election period, most Republican officials have backpedaled. Worried about the electoral consequences but also the legal ones: treating embryos like children would open up an arsenal of complicated questions in terms of taxes, alimony, even kidnapping…
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