The ruling comes after the US Supreme Court sent shockwaves across the country in June 2022 when it overturned Roe v. Wade, which gave women the constitutional right to an abortion. The court then gave states the power to determine what type of abortion right women should have, leading many Republican jurisdictions to ban abortions altogether.
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Fertility providers and legal experts now fear that the Alabama decision will also affect women's reproductive rights, potentially making IVF less accessible by raising the costs of services due to greater liability risks.
The University of Alabama was the first IVF provider to pause treatment on Wednesday as it considered the implications of the decision, followed by another practice, Alabama Fertility, which posted a note on social media on Thursday saying it felt “helpless.”
“We have made the difficult and impossible decision to undertake new IVF treatments due to the legal risks to our clinic and our embryologists,” the letter said.
Biden — who is campaigning for another term in part on the issue of reproductive freedom — issued a statement criticizing the Alabama court.
“Ignoring women’s ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable,” he said. “Make no mistake: This is a direct result of overturning Roe v. Wade.”
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Harris also considered blaming Donald Trump for curtailing women's rights more broadly by appointing three conservative justices to the US Supreme Court with the goal of unseating Roe V. Wade.
The issue has also become a feature of the primary race in South Carolina this weekend, where former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley faces an uphill battle to win the Republican presidential nomination against Trump.
When asked in an interview with NBC whether she thought the Alabama court ruling was the right decision, Haley, who had her son through artificial insemination, said: “Embryos, to me, are children.”
She later sought to clarify her comments, telling CNN that it was up to Alabama to determine the state law, but added that it was important to protect fetuses, respect parental rights, and “that we have plenty of opportunity and availability to reproduce.” Fertility treatments moving forward.
The Alabama ruling also raises questions about how remaining embryos are disposed of.
In vitro fertilization is a laboratory procedure that uses sperm to fertilize an egg in a specialized laboratory. The fertilized egg (embryo) is allowed to grow in a protected environment for several days before it is transferred to the woman's uterus. Any remaining embryos can be frozen and stored for future use.
