Alabama patients are running short of time
Melissa Conceded a Supreme Court Decision to Not Allow Forgo a Fraction of an Embryo During IVF
That makes Melissa’s situation especially urgent. There’s no guarantee that her one embryo will result in a birth. But the ruling has disrupted the lives of women at every stage of treatment.
Those on both sides of the debate blamed the pause on the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos should be considered children.
“I’m quickly losing time,” says the person. The 37-year-old has an autoimmune disorder that she needs to plan IVF cycles around; her ovarian reserves are low enough that her doctors say she has a window of a month, maybe two, to try again. She may not have a chance if the ruling lasts more than a few days.
During IVF, patients take hormone-stimulating medications to trigger their ovaries to release mature eggs. Eggs are retrieved from a body of water and fertilized with sperm in a lab. Sometimes a successful IVF cycle can result in several embryos, but doctors typically transfer just one or two into the uterus at a time. Success isn’t promised; about one in three embryo transfers results in pregnancy.
Before another scheduled transfer in January, her doctor noticed fluid in her uterine lining; Lochrane underwent surgery in mid-February to address the issue, and scheduled another embryo transfer for March 18. She has started taking hormones despite the uncertainty because she hopes that the situation will be solved by then. If not, the medications would have been for nothing, and she’ll be left with no way forward.
Florida Suspends Bill to Protect a Fetus: A Firestorm in the era of I.V.F. Ruling
A bill has been introduced in Florida that will make it one of about a dozen other states that allow parents to receive financial damages when a fetus dies. The bill says in cases of wrongful death, parents of an “unborn child” are considered survivors who can sue in civil court.
But in recent weeks, Democrats and others warned that the bill amounts to “fetal personhood,” assigning full rights of a person to a fetus. Such a designation, they said, would imperil doctors and anyone who assisted women in obtaining an abortion and would also adversely affect fertility treatments.
Senator Grall, a Republican from Vero Beach, the bill’s sponsor, said that there is still work that needs to be done. We need to get the policy right with this significance.
The Alabama ruling prompted abortion opponents like former President Donald J. Trump and several Republican governors to underscore their support for I.V.F.
Though the Florida bill does not mention I.V.F., critics feared that it could affect fertility treatments and make it harder for families to have children.
“It’s fair to assume that I.V.F. was a problem for this bill from the jump,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor and historian at the University of California, Davis, who used to teach at Florida State University. “But the degree of backlash and concern increased significantly after the ruling. It’s kind of like it turned into a firestorm.”
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US’ Alabama Supreme Court has said that frozen embryos can be considered a child if they’re thawed after birth. The court ruled that freezing embryos can help people who want to have children but can’t get pregnant due to medical reasons. The court said that it’s up to the individual to decide whether to cryogenically freeze their embryos.