Physicians in Alabama could be shielded from criminal or civil liability for performing in vitro fertilization procedures after the state's legislature passed a bill Feb. 29, The Washington Post reported.
The vote was nearly unanimous in the wake of an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that classified frozen embryos as children. The decision initially led to nearly every IVF clinic and provider in the state halting procedures out of fears over possible legal repercussions for normal IVFphysician tasks like getting rid of non-viable or less optimal eggs.
The bill will protect clinicians from criminal or civil liability "for death or damage to an embryo to any individual or entity when providing or receiving goods or services related to in vitro fertilization," according to its text. The wording of the House and Senate bills, which differ slightly, must be reconciled before it goes to the governor's desk.