Embryo shipping services to halt business in Alabama after IVF ruling
www.theguardian.com
Nationwide services say they will cease transporting embryos in and out of state following court decision deeming them ‘children’

Alabama IVF ruling: Embryo shipping services to halt business in Alabama after ruling deems embryos ‘children’, three fertility clinics pause services in state::Nationwide services say they will cease transporting embryos in and out of state following court decision deeming them ‘children’

  • TransplantedSconie@lemm.eeEnglish
    771·
    9 months ago

    This is our countries future if the Republicans win.

    Zero science, zero laws, just a theocratic state run by a cherry-picked bronze age book while the billionaire class sucks it dry and moves on.

  • icy_mal@lemmy.worldEnglish
    271·
    9 months ago

    The article implies that current patients essentially have no choice but to continue storing whatever frozen embryos they have at the cost of hundreds of dollars per year. It also mentioned that fertility clinics have “paused” services due to the legal risk posed to anyone involved if the embryo were to fail at any stage. So what happens now? Will these clinics be legally obligated to continue maintaining these embryos in their frozen state until the end of time? Considering their business model has been made illegal, it seems like bankruptcy is inevitable. Who then becomes responsible for these embryos? This is all so absurd.

      • OldWoodFrame@lemm.eeEnglish
        14·
        9 months ago

        The Daily had someone call in who was 3 days away from an implantation, the surrogate had been taking shots for weeks to get ready, and the company called it off because of the ruling. And transport companies won’t move the embryos because of the ruling. So literally the only legal option is to spend a year and $30,000 starting over in a other state and hoping the far right don’t come to power / have a similar judgement in that state in that time.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    51·
    9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Embryos can fail to develop at any stage of IVF process – for example after they are first formed following the fertilization of an egg with sperm or when they are thawed ahead of implantation into the womb – which makes the ruling that they are “children” even more fraught for doctors.

    “Our legal team is telling us that, as the ruling is written, that modern fertility treatments cannot continue in the state of Alabama because of the risk to physicians and embryologists, given that embryos are now considered children,” a doctor told the Guardian earlier this week.

    On Friday afternoon, the Alabama attorney general, Steve Marshall, said that he did not intend to prosecute IVF doctors or patients.

    Providers could be held liable under civil law, and future attorneys general after Marshall’s tenure could ultimately decide to turn heel and prosecute both IVF doctors and patients.

    “And now, this slight window of hope for Alabamans currently undergoing IVF to continue their family-building treatment in other states just slammed shut.

    If patients are forced to continue storing their embryos while also not being able to use or discard them, the already pricey IVF treatment process will indefinitely become even more expensive.

    The original article contains 459 words, the summary contains 201 words. Saved 56%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!