A major Alabama health system is announcing it will pause all in vitro fertilization procedures in response to a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling. In a statement released Wednesday, a spokesperson for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Health System said the decision was made out of concerns over criminal prosecution.
The Alabama Supreme Court ruling, handed down earlier this week, categorized frozen embryos as children who are therefore protected under the state’s wrongful death laws with respect to minors.
Attorneys for UAB are now evaluating the potential for doctors and patients in the IVF program to be prosecuted or forced to pay damages in civil lawsuits as a result of that ruling.
Vice President Kamala Harris said the ruling was outrageous and was already robbing women of the freedom to decide when and how to build a family. On Tuesday, the White House called the ruling the type of chaos they expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
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