A majority of justices on the Alabama Supreme Court, in a decision released Friday, ruled that fertilized eggs and embryos have the same status as children. The opinion referred to embryos, which are often stored in cryogenic freezers, as “extrauterine children.“ There are many reasons families turn to IVF treatment. Some women may have blocked fallopian tubes that won’t allow fertilized eggs to travel to the uterus. In other cases, families can carry genes that cause fatal diseases and may want to create embryos that can be tested. In those cases, families will transfer healthy embryos and may discard or donate those that carry genetic diseases. Medical experts warned the decision could limit access to IVF in Alabama. UAB is the first clinic to announce that it is pausing the procedure while officials evaluate potential legal consequences. The case came about after three families in Mobile sued a fertility clinic and hospital in 2020. All three families had frozen embryos that were destroyed when a patient from the hospital walked into the storage area, removed them from a cryogenic freezer and dropped them on the ground. A circuit court judge dismissed claims of wrongful death because he said the statute did not apply to frozen embryos. Eight judges on the Alabama Supreme Court overturned that ruling.