Wednesday, September 25, 2024

IVF After Dobbs, and Statutory Distinctions of Pregnancy Versus External Embryos

Kerry Lynn Macintosh, Dobbs, Abortion Laws, and in Vitro Fertilization, 26 J. Health Care Law & Policy (2023)  

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization held that there is no constitutional right to an abortion. The Supreme Court distinguished abortion from other constitutionally-protected conduct on the ground that abortion destroys potential life. Given that outcome and rationale, it is timely to review the legal status of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a medical procedure in which human embryos are often lost and multiple fetuses sometimes reduced. This Article canvasses abortion laws and finds that most do not reach IVF and related practices. However, legislatures may enact future laws that ban or restrict IVF in order to protect embryos and fetuses. Thus, this Article evaluates the constitutionality of such laws after Dobbs. It concludes that bans on IVF are unconstitutional as applied to individuals who cannot procreate coitally. However, courts may uphold laws that restrict IVF-related practices that endanger or kill embryos or fetuses.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/gender_law/2024/09/ivf-after-dobbs-and-statutory-distinctions-of-pregnancy-versus-external-embryos.html

Abortion, Healthcare, Legislation, Pregnancy, Reproductive Rights | Permalink

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