Alabama IVF ruling divides devout Christians: 'Fewer children will be born' - BBC News

After Alabama rules that frozen embryos are children, some fertility patients pray that lawmakers find a solution.

2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Ian DruceImage caption, Margaret Boyce was days away from her first appointment for IVF when Alabama made its rulingBy Nomia IqbalBBC News in Birmingham, AlabamaWhen Alabama's Supreme Court defined frozen embryos as children, the shock and confusion was immediate. Major hospitals pulled fertility services and would-be parents scrambled for clarity on what would happen next.

The debate over reproductive rights in America has long been driven, in part, by opposition to abortion from Christian groups - but this ruling has divided that movement and ignited debate about the role of theology in US lawmaking.

Margaret Boyce is soft-spoken, a private person, and certainly not - in her words - a "crier".

She had been taking fertility drugs for 10 months and was days away from her first appointment for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) when the justices of Alabama's top court upended her life.

Their ruling, which prompted many fertility clinics to pause their work, has left her turning to the Bible daily for comfort.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68396485

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