A women’s studies professor fears a recent court decision that attracted national attention threatens women’s freedom.
In February the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos qualify as children and are protected by murder and manslaughter laws in the state. Since most unused frozen embryos are destroyed, the court’s ruling effectively made in vitro fertilization illegal in the state.
Colette Morrow, PNW’s director of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, said the decision is ominous.
“If this is imposed nationally, the first impact would be on people wishing to use IVF to become pregnant and have children,” she said. “That would not be possible if the court decision holds.
“One way to look at this decision is along the lines of who gets to decide what happens or how we deal with human reproduction processes,” said Morrow. “Is it going to be the government or the people who wish to have or not have children?” Morrow said the decision is a different effort to regulate reproduction.
“This seems very much part of the concept that people other than me are going to tell me when and how I can reproduce, which is a violation of international human and civil rights,” she said. “A human right as established by the United Nations is for the person to make decisions about their reproductive choices and capacities.”
Marrow studies women’s rights and reproductive justice.
“Reproductive justice has three big points: meeting basic needs, agency of who gets to make the decisions over a woman’s body and autonomy, which is a woman’s independence to make decisions on her own,” she said.
Though news media nationwide covered the Alabama court decision, Morrow believes that the media is not talking enough about reproductive rights.
“In the mainstream media, we are not talking about this as a reproductive rights issue or a reproductive justice issue,” she said. “These laws that are not being talked about are deteriorating the quality of many women, they aren’t getting the attention they need to make positive change.
“We need to change the framework and talk about reproductive justice,” said Morrow.
