A district judge on Friday dismissed the last of three in-vitro fertilization (IVF) wrongful death lawsuits in the state that spawned a controversial Alabama Supreme Court decision earlier this year.
Mobile County Circuit Judge Jill Parrish Phillips dismissed the last of the suits brought by families after their frozen embryos were destroyed by an intruder who tampered with a freezer at the Mobile Infirmary Clinic.
Plaintiffs Scott Aysenne and Felicia Burdick-Aysenne requested their case be dismissed on Friday, which Parrish summarily granted. The petition did not give a reason for the dismissal or state whether the parties had settled.
Parrish similarly dismissed another IVF case in July at the behest of plaintiffs James LePage, Emily LePage, William Tripp Fonde and Caroline Fonde after their wrongful death was settled out-of-court. Raymond Lee Brackett and Sarah Brackett also motioned to dismiss their wrongful death suit against the Mobile Infirmary Clinic that same month, which Parrish also granted. The Supreme Court did not rule on the Brackett case. However, the couple's embryos were destroyed in the same clinic incident.
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February an embryo created through IVF is a child protected by Alabama's wrongful death act and the Alabama Constitution. The 7-2 decision allowed the parents to proceed with a wrongful death lawsuit.
The Court also held that the Sanctity of Life Amendment to the Alabama Constitution, ratified by Alabama voters and made law in 2018, would require the Court to interpret the law in favor of protecting the unborn. The Sanctity of Life Amendment declares in the state Constitution that it is "the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life."
The decision drew international attention, leading IVF access and abortion to rise as one of the most talked about issues in the presidential election and other state and federal elections nationwide.
The Alabama legislature and Gov. Kay Ivey passed legislation providing civil and criminal immunity to IVF clinics for death or damage to embryos in response to the Court's ruling.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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