I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I have some questions in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children. If they are, indeed, children, shouldn’t keeping them in freezers at some -230F or colder be a barbarous form of child abuse? Shouldn’t the parents be prosecuted? Who else along with the parents? The custodians of the buildings where they are stored? All those who have a duty to report under child abuse laws?
If frozen embryos are children, do they have a right to independent counsel? How do they make their wishes known to said legal representative? Who determines what is in the best interest of the child?
I’ve read that sometimes frozen embryos are kept for decades. Would keeping them out of school violate state compulsory education laws? Should they be included in the annual census counts used to determine federal funds allocation and decennial redrawing of legislative districts? If an embryo is kept frozen for 16 years, wouldn’t he/she/it/they/them be eligible for a driver’s license? Or at least a learner’s permit? When they reach voting age, could their parents apply for mail-in ballots in their names? Should not all those “children” have to be named at the time of freezing so elections couldn’t be rigged by having more than one ballot per voter? On the other hand, how to protect the right of any of those embryo children to vote.
These questions, profound though they may be, shouldn’t be allowed to obscure the more dire implications of Associate Justice Jay Mitchell’s ruling that “Unborn children are ‘children’ … without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics.” Does that mean that the extra fertilized eggs, set aside because it can take several attempts at implantation to succeed, can’t be stored? Does it mean that the frozen ones can’t be destroyed when no longer needed?
The consenting opinions expressed by the Alabama Supreme Court dripped in scriptural overtones. I concede that the question of when life begins – and that what is “life” when it refers to a person as distinct from an amoeba or a piece of lichen – is an article of faith. I respect others’ rights to hold their religious beliefs. But those theological beliefs should not be constraining legally for the rest of the population who don’t share them.
The uncertainties have already led the University of Alabama at Birmingham health system to suspend its in vitro fertilizations pending clarifications. Will those involved in IVF processes be vulnerable to criminal charges? What happens to the women for whom IVF is the only way they can become pregnant? Will they lose the right to fertilize multiple eggs? Could they even be forced to implant them all, facing a choice of either becoming octo-moms or prisoners? This is horrendous.
We learned from the reversal of Roe v Wade that what may seem unlikely today may become defining norms tomorrow. We know that the U.S. Supreme Court will next consider banning prescriptions for abortion pills like mifepristone, used is more than half of all abortions in the United States. Will the next step be to outlaw contraception? You say it can’t happen here? Look at the Alito decision and Thomas‘ concurring opinion in the Dobbs case. At this point, we’re naive to think that anything is sacrosanct.
The Supreme Court of Alabama is an elective position. All nine of the justices are Republicans. The terms of five of those justices expire at the end of this year. The primary is March 5th. This may not be a microcosm of the country, but it is definitely a portent of something trending in this country, and it’s not something to be taken likely.
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Marjorie Arons-Barron 
I have written a piece on this related topic that you might find interesting.
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Joan, Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I think my readers will value your insights, as seen here.
Over the past several weeks, the nation has watched the state of Alabama Supreme Court rule that the use of IVF to support and grow the families of Alabama citizens is illegal. The ruling intends to punish doctors and other providers who assist families in this process. In some distorted way, the state of Alabama, led by Evangelicals and conservative MAGA Republicans, has ruled to ban IVF as part of their anti-abortion, pro-life agenda. It’s hard to know these days what their agenda really is or what they really stand for.
They say that a frozen embryo obtained through the IVF process is the same as a child. However, if we take the time to explore their beliefs and actions, we come to understand that the supporters of the recent IVF ban in the protection of children, demonstrate that they don’t even like children given the way they vote, and the public policies and politicians they support.
They do not support quality healthcare for children; vote against the expansion of food stamps which help to feed many of America’s children; are denying many of them their history and are banning the books they can read in their schools and public libraries. They vote against ensuring strong high quality public schools and would only support those embryos that attend private/religious schools. They discriminate against children who are gay, lesbian, transgender, and seek to deny them educational opportunity and work to stigmatize them in the public square. And their most horrific position of all-they allow our children to be murdered by guns with impunity and in staggering numbers.
For 15 years, I served as the president and CEO of The Home for Little Wanderers, America’s oldest and one of New England’s largest child and family service organizations providing direct services and acting as advocates representing their interests. It was our job to advocate for the policies and practices that would best served children and their families living in at-risk circumstances in MA and the region. In fact, many of the children served by The Home were victims of trauma resulting from the serious abuse and neglect they experienced, often at the hands of adults who were supposed to love and care about them. The world in which many of the kids we served lived and the systems they were forced to navigate felt cruel and unforgiving. The policies and practices undergirding these systems equally so. And we often found that change was required to best promote the educational, health care, housing, and basic needs of families. Both at the national and statewide levels, it is sad to acknowledge that the needs of our children have not always come first -children do not vote and children do not pay taxes. Children are among the poorest citizens in America, and the most harmed from gun violence. Organizations like The Home and their partners, need to remain on the front lines of the struggle for equity and opportunity for all the nation’s children.
The frozen embryos that are being “protected” by the conservative and regressive policies coming from the MAGA Republicans (who today dominate the Party) and their Evangelical allies are safer today if they remain embryos. When that bundle of cells develops into what we all recognize as a child, God bless them. If they live in many of our southern or mid-western states, they haven’t got much of a chance if they are poor, working class, Black or Brown, immigrant, and/or non-English speaking. The pretzel into which today’s Republican Party has twisted the country at the crossroads of pro-life, anti-abortion, IVF and overall reproductive health is utter madness. Being a child, these days is not all that great, and so what are they in favor of really?
Joan Wallace-Benjamin PhD.
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Excellent piece, Margie, and great questions. The lunacy abounds and seems to have no limits.
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Brilliant!!
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Love those questions!
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Bravo! The questions are brilliant! Hopefully, the will of the people will prevail.
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I totally agree, if embryos are in fact ‘children’ they are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. One could even argue they have been kidnaped and are held in captivity.
Back to earth, I feel a number of decisions made by American courts of late cast doubts on their legal system.
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WELL SAID!!
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