Could the IVF turmoil in Alabama happen in Wisconsin? Here's why it's unlikely.
MADISON – The Alabama Supreme Court last week declared frozen embryos created during in vitro fertilization are legally protected like any other child — a ruling that paralyzed fertility clinics in the state and raised questions across the nation about whether the policy could spread.
The effect of the ruling has made in vitro fertilization, or IVF, complicated in Alabama with many clinics pausing operations.
Women who choose to pursue IVF typically have more than one egg fertilized to ensure at least one develops into a mature embryo. Women and their partners often choose to keep other mature embryos that result from IVF frozen for future pregnancies. In some cases, these embryos are donated or discarded.
IVF is responsible for nearly 100,000 babies born every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Wisconsin, it's unlikely a similar ruling could be handed down. Here's why:
Unlike Alabama, Wisconsin does not have a so-called personhood law
The ruling in Alabama is rooted in the state Constitution there, which gives constitutional protections to fertilized eggs and every stage of development thereafter.
In Wisconsin, the state Constitution says all people are born equally free and independent. Republican lawmakers have in the past unsuccessfully tried to drop the word “born” and say the right to life applies to all humans at any stage of development, including before they are born.
Because of this, a Wisconsin court does not have such legal protections to rely on when deciding cases involving frozen embryos.
Wisconsin has a Democratic governor who opposes abortion restrictions
If Republicans who control the state Legislature pass a bill that extends legal protections to embryos, which the caucuses have decided not to do so far even with Republican governors, the bill would have no chance at becoming law.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has consistently opposed such measures and backs preserving abortion access in the state.
Wisconsin Republican leaders have not supported changing the state Constitution so far
Republicans could pass a constitutional amendment, which does not require Evers' signature, but so far GOP leaders have not supported doing so.
A 2020 measure to amend the state Constitution to extend such protections was unsuccessful. At the time, the proposal had the backing of Pro-Life Wisconsin but was opposed by the state’s largest anti-abortion group, Wisconsin Right to Life.
More: Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde confirms support for IVF and fertility treatments
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is controlled by liberal justices
If the state Legislature does indeed amend the state Constitution to extend such protections to embryos, the current makeup of the state Supreme Court makes it very unlikely that the court would produce a ruling that would bar the legal destruction of embryos.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why the Alabama IVF turmoil is not likely to happen in Wisconsin
