THE CLAIM: President Joe Biden argued in Thursday night’s 2024 State of the Union address that the Supreme Court’s decision: dobbs overturn the decision Roe vs. Wade This allowed the Alabama Supreme Court to rule that frozen embryos created during the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process are fetuses.
Verdict: FALSE — The Alabama Supreme Court’s Feb. 16 decision dobbs This decision returned the issue of abortion to the states.
In his State of the Union address, with Supreme Court justices in attendance, Mr. Biden criticized the high court, claiming that the Alabama IVF case was “produced by overturning the Supreme Court’s decision.” Roe vs. WadeFor 50 years, this has guaranteed a constitutional “right” to abortion.
“Joining me tonight is LaTriya Beasley, a social worker from Birmingham, Alabama. Fourteen months ago tonight, she and her husband gave birth to a baby girl, thanks to the miracle of in vitro fertilization,” Biden said. “She was scheduled for treatment to have her second child, but the Alabama Supreme Court halted IVF treatment statewide by overturning the Supreme Court’s decision. Roe vs. Wade. She was told that her dreams would have to wait. ”
“What her family went through should never have happened. And unless Congress takes action, it could happen again. So tonight, let’s stand up for families like hers! ” he continued. “To our friends across the aisle, don’t make your families wait any longer. Let’s guarantee IVF rights across the country!”
As the Alabama Supreme Court stated: dobbs He repeatedly ruled in his decisions because of fundamental legal principles. For example, the judges cited the following passage: dobbs The judgment states that “respect for the judgment of the legislature applies even when the law in question concerns issues of great social significance or moral substance.”Courts used to be dobbs Decisions that change laws and case law regarding in vitro fertilization.
The Alabama Supreme Court also did not shut down IVF, as Biden had suggested, but at least three clinics have reportedly closed. paused Following a court ruling that anyone who destroys frozen embryos could be held liable under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, a law that has historically applied to unborn children and unborn children. I suggested in vitro fertilization.
Alabama Supreme Court case holds reproductive health center liable under the Wrongful Death of Minors Act after patients accessed, dropped and destroyed several couples’ frozen embryos in 2020 The issue is whether or not. The embryos were created by in vitro fertilization. In it, “a mature egg is collected from the ovary, fertilized by sperm in a laboratory, and [and] A procedure then takes place in which one or more fertilized eggs, called embryos, are placed in the uterus, where the baby will grow. ” according to Go to Mayo Clinic.
The state’s high court ultimately reversed a lower court’s decision not to recognize frozen embryos as fetuses. The Alabama Supreme Court drew its reasoning from the Sanctity of Unborn Life Amendment, adopted into the state constitution in 2018, which states that the law recognizes “the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.” It was declared a public policy.
“This court has held that a fetus is a “child” for purposes of Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, which allows parents of a deceased child to recover punitive damages for the child’s death. “This has been the case for a long time,” the opinion states.
“The central issue raised in these consolidated appeals concerns the death of embryos kept in cryogenic nurseries, and the law does not include extrauterine children, i.e. children born outside the biological womb. “The question is whether there is an implied exception to that rule for the fetus located at the moment it is killed,” the judge continued. “Under the current Black Book Act, the answer to that question is no. The Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to all unborn children, regardless of where they live.”
The justices said the provisions of the Wrongful Death of Minors Act were “broad and unqualified.”
“This applies without restriction to all children, born and unborn,” they wrote. “It is not the role of this court to create new limits based on our own views about what is or is not prudent public policy.” This is especially the case if a constitutional amendment is adopted whose direct purpose is to prevent the exclusion of the “fetus” from legal protection.”
Ahead of the State of the Union address, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) announced civil and criminal charges against IVF clinics for the death or injury of a fetus, currently defined as a human under the state’s wrongful death law. Signed a bill granting immunity.
Senate Democrats last week tried to quickly pass a Trojan Horse bill that would introduce federal protections to all “assisted reproductive technologies,” not just in vitro fertilization (IVF). defined By the federal government. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) called the bill a “colossal overreach, filled with toxic overreach that goes far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF.” This movement was blocked.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her at @thekat_Hamilton.
