NBC Boston | Alabama embryo ruling raises concerns for IVF availability across the country

People in Massachusetts are expressing fear about the future of IVF treatments after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are considered children under state law.

By Abbey Niezgoda.

Originally Published on NBC Boston.

One week after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are considered children under state law, the decision is putting the future of IVF treatments at risk.

While clinics in Alabama start to pause fertility treatments as a result of the decision, patients in Massachusetts said they are concerned about what could come next.

"The last few days, I just keep thinking about it constantly. I am concerned tremendously," Rebecca Schauer said.

Schauer conceived her first child though IVF two years ago. She has four other frozen embryos stored at Boston IVF and said the ruling has her worried about the impact on her family-planning.

"It really is just total confusion, total panic," Schauer said.

Boston IVF said all treatments, including embryo storage, remain unaffected, but advocates fear that could change if the U.S. Supreme Court agrees with the Alabama decision. Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley said she does.

"To me, embryos are babies," Haley told NBC News.

Meanwhile, GOP frontrunner and former President Donald Trump has voiced support for IVF and called on Alabama lawmakers "to find an immediate solution to preserve" the services' availability in the state.

Democratic President Joe Biden ripped the ruling as a "direct result" of the Supreme Court's decision to roll back abortion rights by overturning Roe v. Wade.

"Today, in 2024 in America, women are being turned away from emergency rooms and forced to travel hundreds of miles for health care, while doctors fear prosecution for providing an abortion. And now, a court in Alabama put access to some fertility treatments at risk for families who are desperately trying to get pregnant," Biden said. "The disregard for women's ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable."

An Alabama court ruling on IVF treatments has shown a new faultline in the Republican Party post Roe v. Wade, and could play into the 2024 presidential campaign, political commentator Sue O'Connell says. Follow NBC10 Boston on... Instagram: instagram.com/nbc10boston TikTok: tiktok.com/@nbc10boston Facebook: facebook.com/NBC10Boston X: twitter.com/NBC10Boston

In Massachusetts, advocates for reproductive rights said the ruling is a wake-up call.

"I think finding an embryo to be a legal child is just such an unforeseen next step, and the consequences could be very broad," said Polly Crozier, the director of family advocacy at GLAD.

Crozier said while she hopes Massachusetts continues to be a beacon for fertility treatment, the war on reproductive rights could have consequences everywhere.

"It's cause for pause for every American to understand that we're treading in really dangerous ground," Crozier said. "Nothing is only in one state at this point."

In a statement, Rebecca Hart Holder, the president of Reproductive Equity Now, also blasted the decision.

"Not only does this ruling put IVF and family planning at risk in Alabama, but it paves the way for the far-right's use of 'fetal personhood' statutes, which can and will be used to broadly restrict access to abortion, contraception, and assisted reproduction nationwide," Hart Holder said.

Schauer said she is not only worried about her embryos, but also concerned it will make the path to parenthood for so many others even more challenging.

"I hope that Massachusetts is progressive enough and my rights are safe here, but you just never know," Schauer said.