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  • SUNDAY FEBRUARY 6 2005 9:59 PM

Judge Rules Fertilized Eggs Are Human Beings

Submitted by pavlovsdog

Edited by Christopher

An Illinois judge ruled Friday in favor of a couple seeking a wrongful death suit against a fertility clinic that accidentally discarded their fertilized eggs.

In an 11-page opinion Friday, Judge Jeffrey Lawrence said "a pre-embryo is a 'human being,' ... whether or not it is implanted in its mother's womb." Lawrence said the couple is entitled to seek compensation as would any parent whose child has been killed.


The plaintiffs, Alison Miller and Todd Parrish, stored nine fertilized embryos in January 2000 at the Center for Human Reproduction in Chicago. After a successful treatment, the married couple believed their fertilized egg--or blastocyst--would be preserved by the Chicago clinic for later implantation. But six months later, when the couple was ready to conceive, they learned that the embryos had not been put in frozen storage, but were mistakenly discarded.

The couple first sued for damages in 2002, claiming the incident was a case of wrongful death. Two judges rejected the couple's plea before Friday, when Lawrence offered his ruling and an 11-page memorandum supporting their wrongful-death argument.

Lawrence also cited Illinois state law, which states "the unborn child is a human being from the time of conception and is, therefore, a legal person."

"There is no doubt in the mind of the Illinois Legislature when life begins," Lawrence wrote. "It begins at conception."


While it is unclear whether the ruling will affect abortion law or not, if the ruling stands, experts say, it could frustrate the work of fertility clinics and the future of stem-cell research.

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Aaron

Aaron

Shakopee, MN
July 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:08 PM

Nurse drops a test tube, Judge calls it murder...I understand it's inconvienent and the clinic should have some kind of liability but to call this "wrongful death" is kind of pushing it in my opinion.

HenryTMensch

HenryTMensch

New York, NY
December 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:11 PM

The impact on abortion law will be minimal or nonexistant because this is a state case and federal abortion laws, which are based on an implied right of privacy in the US Constitution, trump state laws.

I don't know enough about IL state law to give a serious opinion, but this seems kind of insane to me. I mean, they should for sure recover if the embryos were destroyed negligently, but not on a wrongful death cause of action.

HenryTMensch

HenryTMensch

New York, NY
December 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:15 PM

AaronB said:
Nurse drops a test tube, Judge calls it murder...I understand it's inconvienent and the clinic should have some kind of liability but to call this "wrongful death" is kind of pushing it in my opinion.



it's not murder. It's wrongful death. e.g. what OJ got nailed for in the civil case that he lost.

Bondgirl

Bondgirl

Aberdeen, SD
February 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:17 PM

This is so fuckin ridiculous. When will this all end?!?!

HenryTMensch

HenryTMensch

New York, NY
December 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:19 PM

When president Bush gets us awesome tort reform. NOT.

Coliwali

Coliwali

I'm lost
February 2003

FEB 06, 2005 10:24 PM

Since when does some random court in Illinois have the power to decide when human life begins?

Aaron

Aaron

Shakopee, MN
July 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:29 PM

HenryTMensch said:

AaronB said:
Nurse drops a test tube, Judge calls it murder...I understand it's inconvienent and the clinic should have some kind of liability but to call this "wrongful death" is kind of pushing it in my opinion.



it's not murder. It's wrongful death. e.g. what OJ got nailed for in the civil case that he lost.



I understand the legal differences, I was going for effect wink

HenryTMensch

HenryTMensch

New York, NY
December 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:31 PM

Coliwali said:
Since when does some random court in Illinois have the power to decide when human life begins?



Generally the state courts get to interpret their state laws and constitutions. It's nothing new for the courts in state X to say what issue Y means in state X.

HenryTMensch

HenryTMensch

New York, NY
December 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:32 PM

AaronB said:

HenryTMensch said:

AaronB said:
Nurse drops a test tube, Judge calls it murder...I understand it's inconvienent and the clinic should have some kind of liability but to call this "wrongful death" is kind of pushing it in my opinion.



it's not murder. It's wrongful death. e.g. what OJ got nailed for in the civil case that he lost.



I understand the legal differences, I was going for effect wink



Carry on, then. wink

Baka_Amerikanjin

Baka_Amerikanjin

Seattle, WA
January 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:33 PM

By that rationale fertility clinics should never be allowed to discard fertilized eggs even if they have outlasted their shelf-life. They should even be obliged to implant every last egg into a mother, or they'll be causing countless wrongful deaths every year!

Also, hypothetically say the couple had ten eggs at the clinic, shouldn't they be obliged to bring every one of them to term or be a party to the same wrongful deaths? After all, if they just choose one, they're killing nine of their babies. whatever

Edited for clarity

[Edited on Feb 06, 2005 11:04PM]

s5

s5

San Francisco, CA
OLD SKOOL

FEB 06, 2005 10:35 PM

where are all the principled conservatives who decry "activist judges" and "legislating from the bench"?

they seemed awfully concerned about random state judges redefining marriage for everyone else, but they are strangely silent when random state judge redefine human life for everyone else.

HenryTMensch

HenryTMensch

New York, NY
December 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:36 PM

Expecting logic from an inferior state court is like asking for disappointment...

HenryTMensch

HenryTMensch

New York, NY
December 2004

FEB 06, 2005 10:37 PM

s5 said:
where are all the principled conservatives who decry "activist judges" and "legislating from the bench"?

they seemed awfully concerned about random state judges redefining marriage for everyone else, but they are strangely silent when random state judge redefine human life for everyone else.



Yeah. Funny how that happens, eh? I'm sure it's just an oversight. whatever

Minerva

Minerva

HOPEFUL

Annapolis, MD

FEB 06, 2005 10:47 PM

so, the parents had NINE embryos frozen? and those were all human lives?

did they intend to give birth to all nine? if not, shouldn't they have some sort of lawsuit against them for denying those embryos the right to develop and grow into good christian kids? surreal

Renfield7

Renfield7

Westminster, MD
December 2004

FEB 06, 2005 11:06 PM

Edit: My bad. I misread something.

[Edited on Feb 07, 2005 2:10AM]

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