On February 16^th, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment have protections under the “wrongful death of a minor law”. This means that if a fertilized egg is damaged or discarded the person responsible could face civil (not criminal) penalties. However, the law does not give embryos the same legal rights as live children. This ruling has caused some fertility clinics in Alabama to pause services to evaluate the consequences of the ruling. On Thursday, February 29, Alabama lawmakers submitted a law that, if approved, would prevent IVF providers from facing criminal charges when an embryo is damaged or destroyed during treatment.

IVF stands for in-vitro fertilization and is a type of assisted reproductive technology used by people who experience infertility and many LGBTQ+ couples. It is estimated that 1-2% of babies born each year in the US are conceived through IVF treatment.

IVF is a long process and involves the person with a uterus to undergo months of hormone treatment before their eggs are harvested. The eggs are then fertilized by sperm outside the body and re-implanted into the uterus to grow. This process has about a 50% success rate, and most people need multiple rounds of IVF to have a live birth.

The fertilized egg is called an embryo and is about the size of a freckle. There is a small risk of damaging the embryo when thawing it, and when implanting it into the uterus.

It is standard practice to harvest and fertilize multiple eggs and freeze the extras. These additional fertilized eggs can be used in the event the first implanted egg does not take. The embryos can also be saved for future use by the couple if they want more children, unused embryos can be donated or destroyed.

Under the new court ruling, if a fertilized egg is damaged or destroyed, it is possible for the clinic staff and potentially their patients to face civil consequences under the state’s “wrongful death of a minor” law. However, on Thursday, February 29, Alabama lawmakers voted to prevent in vitro fertilization providers from facing criminal charges when an embryo becomes damaged or destroyed during treatment.

It is unclear if people who receive IVF services could themselves be responsible for harm to extra embryos if they choose to discard unused embryos after treatment.

We are also still learning what the impact of this ruling will be within Alabama as fertility clinics evaluate the risk of performing IVF. So far, three fertility clinics have paused IVF services until further notice including University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital, the largest hospital in the state.

We do not know how this ruling could impact the way fertilized eggs are viewed in other states. This ruling relied heavily on the wording in the Alabama State’s constitution and the state’s “wrongful death of a minor” law. However, some legal scholars worry about wider impacts.

It will take about a week to know whether the law submitted on Thursday, February 29 will be passed to protect in vitro fertilization providers from charges.