(photo-illustration by Jacqui Vanliew and Getty Images)
In 1978, the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) baby was successfully born in England. Research started back in the 1960s and 1970s as more research was being done into human oocyte fertilization, or the study of how fertilization happens. This is how IVF became possible. Louise Brown is the first IVF baby, or as some call “test tube baby”. The first US born IVF baby was three years later and the 15th worldwide. This procedure has helped millions of women with fertility problems be able to have the family they have always dreamed of.
June 24, 2022 is a day that will live on in the minds of women for years to come. It was two days after the 49th anniversary of Roe V. Wade being passed on June 22, 1973 when the Supreme Court brought down their decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. According to the Center of Reproductive Rights, “The Center argued the case, which challenged a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy that had been struck down as unconstitutional by a lower court. The case marked the first time the Court considered the constitutionality of a pre-viability abortion ban since Roe v. Wade. Mississippi asked the Court not only to uphold its abortion ban, but to overrule Roe v. Wade and rule there is no constitutional right to abortion.”
This has had a major trickle down effect on the healthcare and reproductive rights of women all across the country. American Progress stated in an article, that reflected one year of the decision, stated that nearly 22 million women found themselves living in a state where they could not get an abortion. Women are being put at risk. There are several states where there are no medical, rape or incest exceptions for abortion at all!
As the country nears the second year of this decision, a new revelation has happened in the state of Alabama. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. Justice Mitchell wrote in the decision, “Unborn children are ‘children’ … without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics,” according to AP News.
With this new addition to the state law has made life even harder for people who are wanting to have children. According to Dr. Zev Williams, director of the Columbia University Fertility Center during an interview with CNN, about 2% of births in the US result from IVF. Over 8 million babies have been born using this technology. While that is a small percentage of births in the United States, IVF is still a new technology that people are slowly being able to access.
Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, The University of Alabama at Birmingham paused its IVF treatments. As of Feb. 22, 2024, two more facilities in the state have stopped IVF treatment, Alabama Fertility Services and The Center for Reproductive Medicine, in conjunction with a related hospital system Infirmary Health, according to AP news. More shocking news came out when UAB announced that it will not be shipping embryos out of state anymore. The hospital stated that it is having a hard time finding shipping companies that want to help because of the new legislation.
This is something very concerning and very personal to me. I am a woman who has a hormonal disorder and will likely need something like IVF when I am older and want to have a family. It was saddening enough hearing two years ago that women are being forced to live through pregnancies in some states even if there are major complications. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most common hormonal disorder in women is Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This disorder affects 8 – 13% of reproductive-aged women and 70% of cases go undiagnosed with more than 200,000 cases a year!
A whole generation of women are going to be needing fertility help, and states are starting to put restrictions on those. How is this going to help? As a young woman with PCOS, this is scary. I have always wanted a family, and seeing that something that could help with that dream coming true slowly being targeted is heartbreaking. There are so many women who use IVF to get the family they want after several years and several miscarriages.
Alabama is a state that has been pushing and encouraging couples to have more children, but now they are taking away something that many young couples are going to need. How does this make any sense?
The answer is that it doesn’t! These people have this weird sense that they are trying to help, but in reality they are just making it worse. They have taken their target off of women who don’t want kids and now are putting it on women who have a hard time trying to make a family. This is not right! How can people still see this as acceptable, and how can these lawmakers sleep at night knowing that they are hurting millions of people who want their own family.
