Alabama's Anti-IVF Decision Is a Sign of Hell to Come

If you’re looking for indicators of creeping fascism in America, look no further.

ABC News

Last Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, and that those who destroy them can be held responsible for wrongful death. The decision is a landmark one. It's the first of its kind (in the bad way!) and one that (by design!) will have huge and devastating implications for reproductive rights in Alabama (where reproductive rights are already awful!) and for America as a whole.

Normally I might build up to this, but let’s just get where we’re going: The ruling that frozen embryos should have the same rights as a human being is insane—and certainly an insane decision for a state Supreme Court in the United States in the year 2024 to make.

The decision wasn’t regarded as insane, though. It didn’t make anyone question the mental capabilities of its executors, or even get them fired. It was called “unprecedented” and stunning, sure, and it was met with shock, confusion, and outrage. But things that once seemed out of the realm of normal, expected outcomes—things that once seemed insane—are now becoming alarmingly commonplace. These are simply insane times, and the fact that there’s a certain level of acceptance and understanding about that these days is perhaps the most insanity-inducing thing of all. 

Most immediately, the decision throws the practice of in vitro fertilization—in which an egg is fertilized outside the human body—into what is essentially an existential crisis. In IVF, not all embryos are successfully implanted. In IVF, embryos that aren’t implanted are often destroyed. So how could an IVF facility continue to practice if doing so could mean facing a wrongful death claim every time a fertilized egg is lost or discarded? Well, it can’t, and it only took a few days for the decision to start shutting down clinics in the state. 

On Wednesday, the University of Alabama at Birmingham announced that it was halting IVF treatments for fear of potential negative legal ramifications stemming from the ruling. In a statement, UAB spokeswoman Hannah Echols said, “We must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments.”

In other words, while the Alabama court decision does not explicitly prohibit IVF, it makes the entire practice terrifyingly dangerous for providers and families. The inciting incident itself only adds to the sense of precariousness health providers are now facing: three sets of parents filed two lawsuits after their frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed at a hospital by a rogue patient who entered a room they shouldn’t have. That loss must have been extremely difficult for the parents on many levels, I’m sure, but the resulting ruling is not only legally thorny, it’s cataclysmic and ruinous for thousands of other parents who have now been stripped of their right to do what they want with their own property. 

As a consequence of the decision, parents will now, in theory, have to pay for storage fees indefinitely. On top of that, liability costs will soar, and any unsuccessful implant could become grounds for legal action. It feels important to note that those who engage in the expensive, exhausting, and often difficult process of IVF are perhaps some of our planet’s most dedicated advocates of human life. On the other hand, we all know that fact is entirely beside the point.

With hundreds of thousands of frozen embryos stored at clinics and facilities nationwide, this also has the potential to be a seismic logistical mess. It’s already causing panic and chaos in the lives of individuals and care providers. It doesn’t matter that IVF provides a valuable, life-affirming service—one that’s well-known and popular. Again, that’s not the point. The point is, and always has been, control. 

The debate over when life begins has always been about co-opting and piloting women’s bodies, decisions, and lives. It’s not any more complicated than that, and that sense of basic autonomy is slowly being eroded in America’s high courts. It also isn’t going to stop, and this ruling is proof of that. The Dobbs decision was just one (albeit enormous) piece in a larger systematic dismantling of basic rights and protections. It’s not just affecting people with uteruses, either. These creeping, draconian decisions are exerting explicit control over entire families who are struggling with conceiving. And now that this effort has succeeded in Alabama, it will provide ideas, fuel, and ammunition for the next grenade in the war on reproductive rights. The decision is a huge victory for anti-abortionists and sets a terrifying precedent. It’s just a sign of the hell to come. 

Decisions like this might drive people to the polls, but it bears repeating until we’re hoarse that voting will not save us. The courts increasingly rule our lives now, and the progressive movement is fundamentally screwed as long as the system remains intact. We’ll fight and keep fighting, of course, but we must do so with eyes wide open. The enemy intends to debilitate, devalue, dehumanize, maim, and kill us. We have no choice but to do our damndest to remain shocked and active, and to extend the same kindness and consideration toward them that they extend toward us. Which is to say, none at all.