Alabama legislators propose bills to clarify status of IVF in wake of controversial ruling

Lawmakers in both chambers of the Alabama legislature have filed bills that would clarify state law related to embryos created via in vitro fertilization after significant backlash from the state Supreme Court’s ruling on the matter last week.

Draft legislation from Republican state Sen. Tim Melson, the chairman of the Alabama Senate’s Healthcare Committee, states that “any human egg that is fertilized in vitro shall be considered a potential life but shall not for any purposes be considered a human life … unless the fertilized egg is implanted into a woman’s uterus and a viable pregnancy can be medically detected.”