‘Unborn children na still children’ – Di Alabama IVF ruling wey dey divide dedicated Christians

Wen Alabama Supreme Court define frozen embryos as children, e shock and confuse many pipo. Major hospitals pulled fertility services and would-be parents dey scramble for clarity on wetin go happun next.

Di debate ova reproductive rights for America don tey well-well, sake of opposition to abortion from Christian groups - but dis ruling don divide dat movement and start debate about di role of theology for US lawmaking.

Margaret Boyce na soft-spoken, private pesin, she no be - according to her - a "crier".

She don dey take fertility drugs for 10 months and she dey days away from her first appointment for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) wen di justices of Alabama top court judgement turn her life upside down.

Dia ruling, wey don force many fertility clinics to pause dia work, don make her to turn to di Bible daily for comfort.

Di 32-year-old and her husband get one young boy but, second time round, she dey experience unexplained infertility. To build family na her dream.

"I be one of three. I feel say di greatest gift na to give your child a sibling," she tok.

"Di journey to be parents dey different for every single couple - mentally, emotionally and financially," she add put, as tears dey flow from her eyes.

"Dis ruling don add more unnecessary anxiety to sometin wey already dey so hard."

For a devoted Christian like Margaret, di ruling - wit di consequences for wetin she dey see clearly as a process to create life - dey more difficult to understand.

"God," she tok, "tell you to go forth dey fruitful and multiply."

IVF na difficult and lengthy treatment, wey involve di fertilisation of woman eggs wit sperm for lab to create a microscopic embryo. Di fertilised embryo go den dey transferred to di woman uterus, wia e fit create pregnancy - but a successful outcome no dey guaranteed.

Often times dem dey freeze embryos or eventually destroy am as part of IVF, wey dey account for around 2% of US pregnancies.

Di Alabama court bin rule say di existing law – wey cover wrongful death of minor – no covers just foetuses for womb, but embryos for lab or storage facility too.

E no clearly restrict or ban IVF, but e don create deep uncertainty for clinics and medical workers wey dey handle embryos and fear prosecution. In recent days di office of di state attorney general say im no get "any intention" of pursuing criminal charges against IVF clinics - but one clinic tell BBC say dis statement lack detail and e no address dia fears.

While di majority of di justices bin support di ruling for law, Chief Justice Tom Parker also get higher authority formind, repeatedly e use di scripture to explain im decision.

Di pipo of Alabama, im write for one concurring opinion, don adopt one "theologically-based view of di sanctity of life"for dia state constitution.

Im delve into religious sources from classic Christian theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas and also a modern conservative Christian manifesto, and den conclude say "even before birth, all human beings get di image of God, and add say dia lives no fit dey destroyed without effacing im glory".

Some anti-abortion groups celebrate di explicit use of scripture for Justice Parker opinion to justify wetin for dem be ogbonge decision.

Tony Perkins, president of evangelical activist group di Family Research Council, describe as "a beautiful defence of life".

But di chief justice theocratic justification shock Margaret. She no believe in abortion but she also struggle to see frozen embryo as a living person. For her, life begin wit heartbeat.

"Nobody understand more dan say embryo no be pikin," she tok, before she pause, "di pesin wey dey yearn for dat embryo no be pikin."

US courts sometimes dey make decisions wey dey based on religious beliefs, na so Meredith Render tok, one professor for University of Alabama School of Law.

But, she add say, "rarely na you go see say dem state am koro- koro" like di chief justice opinion.

Di ruling however "no be outlier" for conservative court for a red state, Kelly Baden tok, di vice president for public policy for di Guttmacher Institute, wey dey track abortion legislation across US.

"We dey see say many elected officials and judges dey often enta dis debate from a highly religious lens," she tok.

No be US president appoint di Alabama state Supreme Court, tori be say more dan 200 judges dey appointed by Donald Trump to federal courts during im four-year term, dis move give am support from American evangelicals.

During im presidency im bin nominate three new justices to di nine-member Supreme Court - all of dem bin support striking down di 1973 Roe v Wade decision wey bin guarantee a federal right to abortion.

Since dat decision for 2022 e re-open national battle ova reproductive rights, courts for Missouri bin quote Biblical teachings to justify restricting abortion rights and one Trump-appointed judge for Texas wey bin previously work for one Christian legal organisation bin try to impose a nationwide ban on Mifepristone, one commonly used abortion melecin.

While many Republican politicians comfortably agree wit such rulings, restrictions on abortion imposed by conservative courts don prove to be a potent campaign issue for Democrats in recent elections, including di 2022 midterms.

Di Alabama decision, wey di Republican judges make wey now dey affect di fertility treatments wey dey widely supported by US public, don go one step further, to put fear of political backlash for a presidential election year.

Any sign of say IVF dey in danger fit worsen di anger wey already don cost Republicans since di fall of Roe v Wade, especially among suburban women and those wey dey uncomfortable wit abortion bans.

Donald Trump himself, wey be di clear frontrunner for di Republican nomination race, come out strongly in support of IVF, e call on Alabama lawmakers to preserve access to di treatment. Im last remaining rival Nikki Haley at first bin appear to support di ruling, but she don backtrack now.

"Na win philosophically for di pro-life movement because e dey carry on di pro-life recognition of unborn life," na so Eric Johnston, president of di Alabama Pro-Life Coalition tok.

"But you enta a very difficult situation, wia you get dis medical procedure wey dey accepted by most pipo, so how you go deal wit am? Dat na di dilemma.

"I agree wit di overall opinion - I feel say na well written opinion from di legal side and from di medical side," Im add.

"But I feel say di pro-life community in general supports IVF, and I know and don work wit many pipo wey don get children via IVF. And at di same time, dem feel say abortion is wrong. Dis issue dey so different from abortion, but e get to do wit life."

Wetin be di next option for fertility patients for Alabama and beyond?

For patients for di deep-south state, di last week na one of panicked phone calls to clinics, emails to local lawmakers and rush by some to try to transfer frozen embryos comot for di state.

Rodney Miller, 46, and im wife Mary Leah, 41, bin spend a decade to try to get children, before IVF allow dem born a set of twins 18 months ago, wey dem been adopt as frozen embryos.

E "thank di Lord for science and medicine" wey make am possible.

Di couple now dey go through di process again, and dem dey wait to see if di two embryos dem transplant dis week go develop into pregnancy.

"Dis no be win [for Christian right]," Rodney tok, wey dey work for Carrywell, one organisation wey dey support families through infertility.

"Na di classic case of you win di battle but lose di war. Di children wey pipo go born no go plenty becos of dis unless tins change.

"How we become state wia if you want to terminate pregnancy, you go need to leave di state and if you want to initiate pregnancy, via IVF you [also] need to leave di state?"

Whether di ruling for Alabama influences decisions elsewhere na open question.

Foetal personhood bills, wey enshrine di idea say life dey begin for conception, now dem don dey introduce am for more dan dozen states. But dis bills, while dem dey push di idea say foetus or embryo na pesin, no relate to di context of IVF, Kelly Baden of Guttmacher Institute tok.

Di Alabama ruling - implications go go far beyond abortion access - to begin a trend, she tok.

Alabama family lawyer Ashleigh Meyer Dunham, wey don do IVF herself, don begin dey work wit a large number of cases wey dey affected by di ruling. She say she dey fear" becos fertility patients for oda states fit eventually dey affected.

"I feel say di biggest concerns na so pipo elsewhere forget about us and dem think, 'Oh dem be di conservative state, and all of dem na kontri bumpkins. No worry e no ever happun here.'

"And di next tin you know, e dey happun for oda states wey dey ultra-conservative."

Becos di Alabama ruling involve an interpretation of state, no be federal law, e dey unlikely to reach di US Supreme Court. Currently one bill dey go through di state house for Alabama, wey Democrats introduce, wey go effectively pause di ruling and allow treatments to resume as before.

Republicans dey expected to propose dia own bill. If dem do, dem go need to find a way to balance a divided religious constituency, wit some celebrating di court ruling and odas wey dey disturbed by di potential implications for IVF.

Margaret dey pray make lawmakers find solution.

"I no sabi tok too, I dey keep myself to myself. But if any of my friends or family hear say I bin dey send emails to every single representative and senator, I feel say dem go dey shock."

She take deep breath.

"But dis tin don ginger me. Na di only tin wey dey my mind now wey I dey think of."

Alex Lederman contribute to the report from Alabama. Additional research na from Kayla Epstein for New York.

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