By Peter Pinedo
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 29, 2024 / 15:30 pm
The Alabama House overwhelmingly approved a bill on Thursday that grants immunity to in vitro fertilization (IVF) providers in cases of death or injury to unborn babies during the IVF process.
The Republican-majority House passed the bill in a 94-6 vote just a week after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that unborn babies conceived through IVF are human children protected under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.
Introduced by Republican state Reps. Terri Collins and David Faulkner, the bill specifically bypasses the court’s reading of the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act and says that “no action, suit, or criminal prosecution shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity providing goods or services related to in vitro fertilization.”
IVF is a fertility treatment in which doctors fuse sperm and eggs to create human embryos and implant them in the mother’s womb without a sexual act. Embryos that are intended to be implanted later are frozen. Undesired embryos are routinely destroyed or used for scientific research, which kills those preborn children.
The Catholic Church is staunchly opposed to IVF.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the Alabama Policy Institute issued a joint statement before the bill’s passage criticizing lawmakers for supporting legislation that they claim conflicts with pro-life principles.
“It is unacceptable [that] the Alabama Legislature has advanced a bill that falls short of pro-life expectations and fails to respect the dignity of human life,” the statement read.
“Alabama can do both: allow the continued practice of IVF with care for those suffering from infertility and respect life created through the IVF,” the statement continued. “We have full confidence that the same legislature that passed a law protecting the unborn throughout pregnancy will also take this crucial step to continue protecting all human life in keeping with the people of Alabama, who are ardently pro-life.”
The bill will advance to the Alabama Senate for further consideration.
