Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, March 3, 2024

Someone accidentally dropped frozen embryos in Alabama, and it’s full-on politics. Welcome to the politics of reproduction and human life in 2024.

A recent Alabama Supreme Court decision, made 8-1, legally protects embryos under the state’s wrongful death statute. It prompted in vitro fertilization facilities in the state to pause treatment. The ruling wasn’t intentionally halting IVF, according to what I’ve read. It was intended to dignify the embryos with status beyond a cellular clump.

But of course it has a chilling effect. Who would want to work in a place where you could be liable for murdering kids? What parent would want to choose between being impregnated with quintuplets or being sued? Or go through the daily shots and bruises and pills to only remove one egg for a hefty fee with a slim chance of it working?

Meanwhile, cross over a few state lines and you can legally get an abortion at 40 weeks gestation. What times we are in. How confused we are.