A judge ruled this past Friday that an Illinois couple whose frozen embryo was accidentally discarded at a fertility clinic has the right to sue for wrongful-death.
Now, I'm not saying that this couple did anything wrong, but cases like these are what anti-choice forces grab onto for their larger agenda. The bigger picture is a scary one for choice these days.
Just check out what Judge Jeffrey Lawrence--who issued the decision--said of the case: "a pre-embryo is a ‘human being’ ... whether or not it is implanted in its mother’s womb."
He also said that "there is no doubt in the mind of the Illinois Legislature when life begins," citing a state law which says an "unborn child is a human being from the time of conception and is, therefore, a legal person."
Dangerous stuff...
Weekly Feministing Newsletter
Feministing RSS Feed
When are all the masturbating teenage boys and men going to be arrested? I don't even want to think about them arresting menstrating women. Ugh.
All we have to do in these cases is take the focus off the fetus. It's the will of the mother that should determine legal status. If the woman intended to have a child, then harming it in vitro or in utero should be a crime. If the mother doesn't choose to continue a pregnancy, she should have no obligation to do so.
An autonomous being should decide what happens to her own body. Whether to risk injury or death to produce a child is a huge decision and ultimately, the one whose life is at stake is the final word. It's her egg from her body. If she wants it, no one has a right to destroy it. If she doesn't, that's her right, too. Until it has a functioning brain and external existence, it's a part of her body to do with as she pleases.
Also worth noting is that the report indicates this was a reversal of a prior order by another judge. While that happens from time to time, judges usually tend to be reluctant to re-open issues already decided by a previously-assigned judge.