Conservatives Are Already Using Alabama’s “Frozen Embryos Are Children” Ruling to Go After Abortion

Just days after Alabama’s Supreme Court declared that frozen embryos have the same rights as living children, conservatives have decided to try and use the dystopian ruling to further restrict abortion rights.

The Daily Beast reports that religious civil rights law firm Liberty Counsel—which has argued that the Florida Supreme Court must stop a ballot initiative that could enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution—is “trying to bolster its cause by pointing to the Alabama ruling” in an attempt to “make the case that personhood status should actually be more expansive than it already is.” (The Florida court will make its decision by April 1; abortion is permitted within 15 weeks of pregnancy, though it could be restricted to six pending litigation. The ballot initiative groups like Liberty Counsel are trying to stop would undo both bans.)

Alabama’s shocking—though somehow not at all shocking—ruling has terrified reproductive rights advocates who warn that it is just the beginning, and could affect everything from IVF to abortion to contraception. “This is a natural extension of the march toward fetal personhood,” Dana Sussman, deputy executive director of Pregnancy Justice, told The Washington Post. “You only need one state to be the first out of the gate, and then the next one will feel less radical. This is a cause of great concern for anyone that cares about people’s reproductive rights and abortion care.” The Medical Association of the State of Alabama said in an amicus brief that the ruling could make fertility treatments more expensive, or cause clinics to move out of state or shut down entirely for fear of lawsuits.

To that, the Alabama justices basically responded “not our problem,” saying that it’s the legislature’s job to address the “policy-focused argument.” In a deeply disturbing concurring opinion, Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Tom Parker quoted the Bible to argue that frozen embryos cannot be destroyed without someone being punished by God. “Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself,” he wrote. “Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.” In response, Kelly Baden, vice president for public policy at the Guttmacher Institute, told the Post that Parker’s invocation of religion means a judge’s religious beliefs could affect a “deeply personal decision.”

Meanwhile, the Biden campaign has a plan, and apparently it’s to highlight Trump’s “crazy shit”