In Vitro Embryos Are Children Protected Under Law: Alabama Supreme Court

The case was brought by a group of couples against a fertility clinic operated by the Center for Reproductive Medicine.

A donated human embryo seen through a microscope at the La Jolla IVF Clinic in La Jolla, Calif., on Feb. 28, 2007. Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

The Alabama Supreme Court declared on Feb. 16 that human embryos kept outside the uterus are children according to state regulations and are thus covered under wrongful death laws.

The ruling came as part of a lawsuit in which plaintiffs claimed damages for embryos stored at a cryogenic facility that was destroyed.