Are these photographs of children? Would you accuse or convict someone of wrongful death for destroying these cells?
The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that such bits of tissue are children and their destruction, whether accidentally or intentionally, makes one guilty of “wrongful death.”
This means, basically, that workers at fertility clinics can be prosecuted when they, as a normal part of their work, destroy unused fertilized eggs. In the wake of this ruling, IVF clinics in Alabama are closing. And couples that would previously have disposed of their unused fertilized eggs must now pay thousands of dollars to keep them safely frozen or risk prosecution.
So ask yourself: Are these children? Is it criminal to destroy them? What would it mean if all US courts made similar rulings? Should US courts be able to impose religious concepts on everyone?
Some of your courts, Colorado .. words fail.
Yeah, I know. Pathetic, isn’t it? 🥺
No, scratch that. It is deeply, deeply concerning. My granddaughter turns 18 tomorrow. And she’s not even guaranteed the freedoms my generation fought for and won.
Outrageous and unbelievable. I can’t even begin to conceive what kind of mind would create such legislation.
I don’t know but it seems to me that judges who cite and enforce religious beliefs are perilously close to violating the Constitution’s establishment clause. In this country you have the right to follow whatever religious belief (or non-belief) you choose but you do not have the right to force it on others. Unless, of course, you’re a judge …
That’s right, Susan. This is a frontal attack on the establishment clause. True believers will not be assuaged, but rather encouraged by this “victory.” Perhaps next, outlawing contraception?
Who knows? Give them an inch (ie, freedom of religion) and they’ll take a mile. I don’t go around trying to impose my beliefs on others; I get hostile real fast when they do it to me.
so insane
Whether his ruling is the imposition of a religious view or a rejection of medical science, or both, this judge is scary. Scarier still: thinking there may be more like him
oh, they’re out there for sure
This is the result of right wing, conservative, mostly male politicians, who only want to exert their beliefs and power over women who are simply trying to conceive and the clinics trying to help them. They pretend to be all high and mighty about life, and yet they accept money in lieu of passing gun laws that will help save the living. They pass laws that help the rich, rather than helping the needy, the poor, those out in the margins. They pass laws against black history and the LGBTQ+ community rather than accepting and treating them as humans. Actually, those two groups, and many others with love and compassion, are all better humans than these politicians and those that condone the laws. God is not looking fondly on them, he is most likely ready to turn over their tables.
[End of rant]
I can’t disagree with anything you said. I can scarcely watch the news anymore without my blood pressure going up. If any moderate Republicans still exist, I wish they’d speak up and take back their party.
I am reminded of one of George Carlin’s bits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZijLQGH1v0&ab_channel=jkantor6699
This is now so out of hand I’m having trouble processing it. I keep thinking that these judges/lawmakers are enacting legal consequences without any real understanding of the ramifications of their decisions or even the biology involved. How can an embryo be considered a complete child? As in, to destroy one is to commit murder? I’m beyond appalled. It won’t take long for them to realize that this same logic means that to use an IUD is to commit murder on a regular basis….
I’m a child of the 50s and 60s. I grew up in a time when girls whispered that they knew of pregnant women who died (were allowed to die) in order to save the baby. There wasn’t any reliable birth control then. I remember when women couldn’t have their own credit cards (unless their husbands signed for them) and couldn’t just walk into a dealership to buy their own cars. We couldn’t earn a letter in high school or go to some colleges. We were raised to be subservient and submissive to the will of men. Nope. Not ever again.
I was on the phone for over an hour and had to talk to 4 different people today to get one of my medications refilled. The issue is… this medication will cause damage to an unborn child. It was so difficult to renew the authorization that my problem escalated up through different nurses until finally someone was able to do it. I asked that last nurse, is the problem due to concerns about legal ramifications if someone gets pregnant, so now the process is much more difficult? Bingo, said the nurse. If I hadn’t pushed and pushed over several days to get this med refilled it still wouldn’t have happened. It is going to be FedEx expressed to me Friday morning. It’s not like I can manage without this med.
You are preaching to the choir here since I was born in the ’40s. I’d almost forgotten there were times before birth control, before our own credit cards and bank accounts, etc. I’d forgotten (blessedly) that during a very brief marriage in 2000, I fought with my ex over my need for a separate bank account so that I could build my own credit rating.
There are two types of judges and lawmakers and they are equally bad: Type A knows exactly what their laws do to women and that’s precisely why they created those laws. Type B has never learned basic biology and doesn’t care because the Bible tells them all they need to know. (Oh, and there’s a third type. Type C. They’re Democrats. They aren’t the problem.)
I was appalled that you had to go through that just to refill one of your prescriptions. Here in Colorado, of all places. But then I remembered it was mail order and those people were out-of-state. Still, if they are well versed enough on current law to give you grief, they should also know about Colorado’s laws. They should put a note in your records saying clearly “THIS WOMAN LIVES IN COLORADO. GIVE HER THE DAMN RX!”
The state that the pharmacy is located in is CALIFORNIA!! It was the Kaiser National Specialty Pharmacy so they are shipping to several different states; I kind of got the impression that the problem was with the drug authorization process. This drug requires an enrollment process with medical and legal hurdles: evidently the bar was raised significantly due to legal concerns.
Well, since California is also a “Free State,” I’ll cut them some slack re the new laws and just assume the usual, inevitable bureaucratic complications. And this time the blame for all that would go to the aforementioned Type A and Type B judges/legislators.
I almost forgot to mention… remember when women got fired if they got pregnant? Remember when your insurance claims were processed by your employer because that is who you got your insurance through? I’m so afraid that medical information won’t be protected in some states as they hunt for info on abortions, birth control, gender affirmation treatment, etc.
Oh yes, how well I remember when medical insurance was as simple as the insurance company, after the fact, automatically paid 80%, period. They didn’t step between you and your doctors and dictate up front what treatment you could or couldn’t have. If there were any issues, you just talked to the responsible party at your place of employment and they handled everything. You’re right about medical information and confidentiality. After all, how do some states plan to stop women from going elsewhere for an abortion unless they have access to women’s medical records? Likewise gender affirmation treatments. And how else will they know if women are mail ordering birth control or abortion drugs? The police state is already here.
And I remember, more than once, a prospective employer asking me what arrangements I’d made for child care if they hired me (after they’d asked me if I had children).
I remember an interview where I was not only questioned about the childcare, and whether I planned to get pregnant again, but also about what my husband did. I think I was only hired because my husband needed me to bring home a paycheck to support the family while he finished college.