Alabama Supreme Court Ruling on IVF and Personhood

 The Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling has an obvious reconciliation. Let the sleepwalk commence:

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that IVF embryos are persons, with protections of the state. Reuter's summarizes so: 

The 8-1 majority of the court found that it was a long-established precedent that "unborn children" are "children" for the purpose of the 1872 wrongful death law at issue in the case. It said that any doubt about that was removed by a 2018 amendment to the state's constitution, which declared that it was "the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children."

John Oliver had a great take on this ruling, and some "established" federal laws related to this. Worth a watch.

My observation is that to have  IVF technologies be viable (which, being an imperfect technology that many embryos are created so that some may be implanted and eventually 🤞 become babies), and also to codify the conflicting Catholic-aligned "conception equals life” as the Alabama Supreme Court has recently held, there only needs to be a slight change in personhood laws currently being introduced by several  right-thinking state legislatures: 

An embryo  in a womb is a child, an embryo not in a womb (e.g., freezer, test tube, etc.) is not a person. It is the combination of a fertilized egg in a woman’s womb that defines the start of personhood and protections arising therefrom.

There. Simple as that. I'm sure pen has already been put to paper on draft bills with similar language in at least 9 states.

There are two obvious outcomes from this, which on the face seems to be a win (for the IVF side, at least): it absolutely legalizes full-on “test tube babies”, a la Orwell’s 1984. They are totally legal, but upon “birth” aren’t human—and this is actual 2nd tier of homo sapiens that Capitalism needs to continue to thrive. The other outcome is Margaret Atwood's Gilead. Women’s wombs are the only place where humans are created, and that is their sole purpose and the state has control over it once there is a person therein. Conception means live birth or prosecution for manslaughter or other negligent homicide. 

The extreme right’s will is done thanks to the ball being returned to the states' congresses by the Alabama Supreme Court. Anywhere there is a supermajority and GOP governor, expect to see this happen in '24. 

As the IVF ruling challenges mount (someone will have to find standing) its very possible that as personhood (and therefore citizenship) are the purview of the US of A and not the single "S" of Alabama, an appeal could quickly be before the SCOTUS.   Like they don't have other, just as pressing, matters before them.