In February, many in vitro fertilization clinics in the state of Alabama paused some of their services after the state’s supreme court said that frozen embryos were “extrauterine children.” It was the first time the state gave personhood rights to an embryo outside of a female’s uterus.
For many in the middle of this physically and emotionally difficult process that is IVF, the move was devastating and crushing. The fact that one man’s ruling could affect so many people’s decisions on trying to conceive has been perceived by medical experts as a massive violation of peoples' right to bodily autonomy. Some are concerned Iowa could follow in Alabama's footsteps, after House Republicans in the state recently introduced a similar bill.
