First we were told that corporations were people; now, according to the Supreme Court of Alabama, frozen embryos are people too. (Not sure how you’d take either to lunch…)
Last Friday, the Alabama court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered people and as a result, other people can be held liable for destroying them. (The case focused on whether a patient who mistakenly destroyed other couples’ frozen embryos could be held liable for wrongful death.) As multiple legal and medical experts have confirmed, the decision will effectively end in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Alabama. If similar measures pass in the Red states currently considering them, it would affect hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on IVF and related treatments every year.
At least 11 states have passed state laws broadly defining “personhood” as beginning at fertilization. As one report noted (no link available):
To say that mandating fertilized eggs and frozen embryos be given the same protections as fully-gestated babies sets a terrifying precedent is an understatement. This ruling is a win for the anti-abortion movement, which has long sought to regulate IVF as a means to further expanding the limits of “fetal personhood.” Alabama voters passed a ballot measure in 2018 that granted fetuses full personhood, and after the fall of Roe vs. Wade, the state enacted a near-total abortion ban. According to Pregnancy Justice, nearly half of all criminal cases related to pregnancy in the United States come from Alabama. In Friday’s ruling Alabama State Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker quoted the Bible in his written opinion as justification for the decision, because I guess we’re just treating separation of church and state as a light suggestion these days!
Bible-quoting would-be theocrats are increasingly visible in today’s Christian Nationalist MAGA world. Justice Alito–he of the heavily Christianist Hobby Lobby and Dobbs decisions–has once again expressed his view that the Court should “revisit” its decision on same-sex marriage, and Politico has reported on the Christian Nationalist agenda “waiting in the wings” for a second Trump administration.
An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.
Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term and has remained close to him. Vought, who is frequently cited as a potential chief of staff in a second Trump White House, is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term.
Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life. As the country has become less religious and more diverse, Vought has embraced the idea that Christians are under assault and has spoken of policies he might pursue in response.
The only people who aren’t really people, or at least people the Rs could not care less about, are children of parents that struggle every day working low wage jobs to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.
We all know that those embryos and fetuses are on their own once they are born.
I assume Republicans will allow these “ children” to be declared dependents on peoples’ tax filings, right?
Richardallen – IN State Rep Andy Zay authored a Bill in the current session that intended to give pregnant women a child tax deduction. I believe it failed. Zay is now running for US Rep Jim Banks’ office.
If frozen embryos are people, then incubators must be found. The 13th Amendment allows for the bodies of incarcerated women of childbearing years to be used for forced labor/slavery.
Interesting isn’t it that these crusading christians collude with and praise atheistic dictators? They operate in a mindset that is as far from the teachings of Jesus as it is possible to be. Their self righteous quest to rule the United States could set off a religious war in which millions would die. Do they care? Of course not. They would simply see themselves as glorious martyrs…just like jihadists. Religious fundamentalists are ever the enemies of freedom and reason.
It isn’t Christian “values” that are being injected into judicial rulings, but rather Christian/Catholic doctrine that is replacing the Bill of Rights. This ruling, like the whole voucher system, joins Church and State and is exactly what the framers of the Constitution wanted to keep from happening.
The Politico article that Sheila cited is lengthy, but well worth reading.
My first thought was to thaw one out, begin taking prenatal vitamins, eating healthier and getting exercise to promote a healthy baby.
I had no other thoughts; difficult to laugh hysterically and think rationally at the same time.
I presume, in Alabama, you can get a $1M life insurance policy per embryo? Given the IVF successful implantation rate is low, I imagine this could be quite the money making opportunity for the parent-to-be. The one embryo that’s successful won’t need to worry about paying for college after all that insurance money pays out for the ones that didn’t work.
Once again knuckle headed right-wing ideologues make an absurd and idiotic decision regarding rights to life and women. Do they ever do anything else? Also, once again, we see religion sprinting to the rescue of intelligence and fairness when it comes to women’s right. It’s all so very absurd. In Alabama – and many other right-wing extremist places – logic and fairness are replaced with moronic, self-serving, hypocritical “ideas” and decisions.
The pregnant question is: When will intelligent citizens step up and put these pathetic, embarrassing fools out to pasture? They are a blight on our nation and the people they allegedly serve.
So can a frozen embryo that was never successfully implanted inherit property when, say, its “grandparent” dies and leaves property to their grandchildren per stirpes?
It really does seem they are heading back to the days when every sperm was thought to be a tiny human being that was to only be implanted in the uterus by the male of the species.
Lots of new dependents. Are they included on family health insurance? Do they age off parents’ coverage before birth? Do they get included on the Census? Do those numbers count when redistricting?
Fertile women are people, too. That statement is unambiguous, meaning there is nothing faith-based about it. It’s pure fact. No jury is required to conclude that.
Women voters who are, remember, or look forward to fertility are a majority of voters, even more so considering fact-based men.
To remain a Republic based on our Constitution, fact-based, informed voters have to oust Republicans.
Let’s do it.
Good will follow for everyone. Even those who want their lives to be faith-based will have their freedom to choose maintained.
Is their God against freedom?
Pete, I’m afraid their god is the Orange Jesus. Just like them he isn’t against freedom for himself and the chosen, who do his bidding. He and they are strongly opposed to freedom for you and me.
“Carving out an exception for the people in this case, small as they were, would be unacceptable to the People of this State, who have required us to treat every human being in accordance with the fear of a holy God who made them in His image,”
– Chief Justice Thomas Parker
Conservatives would have rather have lawyers be a Doctor of Theology as opposed to a Doctor of Jurisprudence.
The so-called Christian Nationalists have obviously never read the Gospels. Jesus would be appalled at their relating their horrifying policies to him and his teaching,
Obviously these very young humans, must now be considered abandoned and subject to care by the state of Alabama Child Services and Foster care. This, the foster parents of each of those millions of embryos is entitled to $500 per month per embryo under Alabama law. And they are wards of the state upon which their survival depends.
When are men going to realize that these opinions will affect them profoundly in the long term? Any form of forced birth, whether from conception or beyond, will be verifiable by DNA testing, making it much more likely that those wild oats being sown today will yield a harvest of financial responsibility for decades
Contraception by any means will be considered potential manslaughter?
You can bet that there will be a black market for pills and condoms of any kind.
If we cannot stop the flow of narcotics into the country, think about stopping contraceptives once the fertile population, men and women, realize the long term consequences of engaging in unprotected sex.
I wonder when Alabamans will realize they are living under a Christian Taliban.
Not much to add here. Christian fundamentalists are as scary as any other religious fundamentalists. The Jewish religion has its Zionists in Israel committing heinous acts against women and children. Islamic and Muslim zealots also commit heinous acts.
If I were a woman in those states, I would do more than vote for Democrats who oppose these Christian zealots by following the Constitution rather than the Bible; I’d move to another state altogether. I’d cash out of Alabama and take my labor and money.
How far will these Christian Nationalists go after this? I wouldn’t stick around to find out. #Adios
Pity the poor census taker, who must knock on the door and ask for the sperm count of males and dates of menses of women in order to know whether to forward such information to the local D.A. Pity also the IRS, who must determine whether a frozen embryo is a deductible item on someone’s 1040. Like whose?
It appears the church-state amalgamation is in full swing, and that more such asinine “problems” as those cited above will result. So what’s next? Will Delilah, the mistress and betrayer of Samson, return as our First Lady? Perhaps. Some people, especially cultists, will believe anything.
There was, is, and always will be good reason for separation of church and state, as our Founders rightly noted. God and Jesus were not into zoning and international trade, neither of which is within the purview of priests, preachers, or rabbis. Let’s “stay in our own lanes.”
As a woman who has absolutely no intent to have children or a husband I am absolutely horrified as to where this all seems to be going. I took a women’s history class in college and was informed about how women were treated before we gained significant rights. There is no way that I want to go back to “the good ol’ days”. Maybe we should be educating young women about medieval and renaissance times and how women used to be “property” before its too late. And we still aren’t even paid the same amount as men while we work. Which is ridiculous given how many times Men abandon women leaving them to take care and raise their children alone. We still haven’t had a woman as President. I’m so tired of all of it. Its time for us Women to March for our rights again. We should all be celebrating the freedoms we gained on the shoulders of women who fought for our futures to be better.
If this wasn’t real life, with real life consequences, it would be funny. But once again the hypochristians reign. It’s disgusting!
Cool. So take that embryo and grow it into a person, then. Oh wait, you might need a uterus…..oops. Damn, corporations and embryos are all people now. Getting mighty crowded out there…
Any educated person with a smidgen of intelligence can see how the Alabama ruling would propel us into a surreal web of unresolvable contradictions and absurd enforcement consequences. The people claiming that a fertilized egg is a person are ignorant ideologues and the judges have lost their power of reason, if they ever had any.
When I heard this decision my initial reaction was confusion. Then I started asking myself a few questions. Are frozen embryos going to be issued SSN’s? If issued an SSN what is their birthday? Can they be claimed as dependents for tax purposes? Do they need to be added to insurance? Can I get permanent Life Insurance for them? Can I open them a Custodial IRA? 529?
Government needs to make know that fundamentalists are free to practice their own beliefs in their personal lives, but don’t expect all citizens to do the same. Politicians pandering to fundamental extremists to conjure votes is misuse of public trust and causes civil unrest. Anyone running or holding office needs to know and understand separation of church and state.
Authoritarian patriarchy in churches and throughout society is soul crushing for women. We need to hold on to our rights and freedom to continue make positive, healthy decisions for our lives.
The whole Christian Nationalism thing stinks to infinity!