Why Alabama’s ruling that fetuses are children could fuel anti-abortion movement in Canada

A ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law has some reproductive rights advocates and reproductive law experts in Canada worried about the potential ripple effect.

What’s worrying, experts say, is that a ruling like the Alabama one, which was issued in wrongful death cases brought by couples whose embryos were frozen and destroyed in an accident, could happen here. .

Case law in Canada Makes clear that fetuses are not persons, and criminal Code states that a child becomes a human being “when it is fully developed, in a living state, from the body of its mother.”

But this kind of thinking — that fetuses are children — could fuel anti-abortion movements in Canada and elsewhere, said Kathleen Hammond, an assistant professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at the Metropolitan University of Toronto, who is an expert in the field of assisted reproductive technologies. Are.

“With the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade and recent steps taken in the U.S., such as the full abortion ban in Alabama, a decision like this is not surprising, but extremely concerning for reproductive rights,” Hammond told CBC News. “

Speaking at a national conference Thursday morning, Frederic Chabot, executive director of Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, said Canadian medical professionals at the conference were discussing fears of liability in the wake of the Alabama decision.

Chabot told CBC News, “They’re talking about … how scared they are of these kinds of decisions and how it may already make some providers more shy about providing services like abortion, fertility treatments, Because they’re seeing a big change.”

“We are horrified to see, again, historic court cases like this, implementing a political project that is very unpopular, which will impact people’s health and access to care in the United States, and in Canada.” There will be an impact.”

alabama case

Last Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a decision that critics say could have broad implications for fertility treatment in the state.

The decision was issued in wrongful death cases brought by three couples whose embryos were destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. The judges cited anti-abortion language in the Alabama Constitution, ruling that an 1872 state law that allows parents to sue over the death of a minor child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.” yes.”

“Unborn children are ‘children’ … without exception on the basis of developmental stage, physical location, or any other attendant characteristics,” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in the majority decision of the all-Republican court.

On Wednesday, the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital halted IVF treatment in consideration of the significance of this decision.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System said in a statement that it should evaluate whether its patients or doctors could face criminal charges or punitive damages for asking them to undergo IVF treatment.

“We are saddened that this will impact our patients’ efforts to have a child through IVF,” a statement from spokeswoman Savannah Coplon said.

What are the implications?

Alana Catapan, an assistant professor in political science at the University of Waterloo and Canada Research Chair in the Politics of Reproduction, explained that IVF relies heavily on freezing embryos to reduce the risks for those going through it as well as having a baby. The potential opportunity to do so can also be maximized. ,

But if the embryos are identified as people, it raises questions about the practice of IVF, Catapan said. As the Associated Press reports, health care workers may not want to provide treatment If those treatments could lead to criminal charges If the fetus is destroyed.

“For people seeking IVF or other fertility treatments, this is extremely worrying, scary and stressful,” she said.

The wording of the decision, which she describes as “laden with religious rhetoric”, could potentially enable even more rollbacks of abortion rights in the state, such as access to the pill or morning after contraception, Catapan said.

Look Decision on abortion pill coming soon:

Lawyers ready for decision on abortion pill

Abortion rights advocates in the US are awaiting an appeals court decision regarding a Texas court’s decision to ban the most commonly used abortion pill and are preparing for what may happen next.

However, Catapan says he is not worried that a similar decision could happen in Canada, where the court’s decisions have been consistent.

For example, in 2019, Ontario’s top court ruled that a divorced woman could not have frozen embryos purchased over her ex-husband’s objections implanted. In 2013, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ordered BC Fertility Clinic to allow discard unclaimed sperm and embryos After the clinic was closed, it was left in storage there.

“It would be difficult to find (the embryo) as an individual in Canada,” Catapan said.

be alert

But Chabot, of Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, says she’s concerned that the changing legal and political landscape in the US could have an impact on reproductive health care overall. And while she also doesn’t think we’ll see a similar case here, the overturning of Roe vs. Wade suggests anything is possible.

“The legal and policy landscape around reproductive health care in Canada is very different than in the United States, but even in the United States, this would have been unimaginable five years ago, before Roe v. Wade was overturned,” she says. . Said.

“The right conditions are needed to make this possible, so we have to be vigilant in Canada as well.”

Alabama’s decision shows why people involved in the reproductive and abortion rights movement need to keep working, said author Martha Paynter, an assistant professor in the faculty of nursing at the University of New Brunswick. Abolition of Abortion: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada,

“Canada … has completely decriminalized abortion, although there are some gaps in care that need to be addressed,” he told CBC News.

“Instead of despairing over what is happening in Alabama, we can reaffirm our continued commitment to working to expand access here.”