The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled, in a case concerning in vitro fertilization, that frozen embryos are children, with the same legal rights as actual born children. Their destruction can be prosecuted under the state’s Wrongful Death statute. IVF clinics in Alabama have begun suspending services for fear of prosecution, dashing the hopes of families. Reality check: in IVF, a fertilized egg is transferred to a woman’s uterus within five days of fertilization, when it’s still a blastocyst. Look up blastocyst. It resembles a child as much as an egg resembles a chicken. The court’s Chief Justice, Tom Parker, said, “Even before birth, all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”
I can tell you that having worked in reproductive health care for decades and having seen five and six week embryos, even at that stage, more advanced than a blastocyst, there is nothing there that remotely resembles a human being, never mind the image of God. Granted, they carry the potential to become children, but they are assuredly not what most people would think of as children. Nor should they be accorded greater value than full grown women and men. This ruling is not based on the realities of life or respect for women and families; it is based on a religious belief. In America, laws have no business being based on religion; yet this is exactly what a growing number of Republicans want and are planning for, should Donald Trump regain the presidency. Vote for freedom. Vote for Democrats.
Jane Munson
Concord