Health
Alabama providers suspend IVF treatments after state court’s ruling as fertility experts weigh in
A decision from the Alabama Supreme Court has led to a halt in IVF services at some locations and a flurry of protests from providers in the fertility space.
The court ruled on Feb. 16 that under state law, frozen embryos are considered children, stating in the decision that “the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies on its face to all unborn children, without limitation.”
The decision was in response to two wrongful death cases brought by three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at an Alabama fertility clinic.
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Justices ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”
“Unborn children are ‘children’ … without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics,” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in the ruling.
A decision from the Alabama Supreme Court has led to a halt in IVF services at some locations and a flurry of protests from providers in the fertility space. (REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo)
This includes “unborn children who are located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed.”
Pro-life advocacy group Live Action reacted to the decision in a statement.
“Each person, from the tiniest embryo to an elder nearing the end of his life, has incalculable value that deserves and is guaranteed legal protection,” Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action, said in the statement.
Fox News Digital reached out to Live Action for additional comment.
In the Alabama court’s ruling, the chief justice referenced upholding “the sanctity of unborn life,” phrasing that appears in the Alabama Constitution. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
In the court’s ruling, Chief Justice Tom Parker referenced upholding “the sanctity of unborn life,” a phrase that appears in the Alabama Constitution.
“Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory,” Parker said in the ruling.
IVF providers halt services
In response to the court’s ruling, the largest hospital system in Alabama — the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) — announced on Wednesday that it would be suspending its in-vitro fertilization treatments.
“The UAB Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility has paused in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments as it evaluates the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision that a cryopreserved embryo is a human being,” the hospital said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
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“We are saddened that this will impact our patients’ attempt to have a baby through IVF, but we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments,” the statement continued.
The hospital noted that other components of fertility treatments — “everything through egg retrieval” — remain in place, and only the actual egg fertilization and embryo development are paused.
On Thursday, two additional fertility providers — Alabama Fertility Specialists and the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile, Alabama — both announced that they would be pausing their IVF treatments, according to local reports.
A laboratory worker fills a test tube at an IVF clinic. In response to the court’s new ruling, some Alabama providers have suspended their IVF services. (Jack Atley/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Doctors weigh in
Dr. Asima Ahmad, co-founder and chief medical officer of Carrot Fertility and a practicing reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist based in Chicago, Illinois, shared her opinions on the ruling.
“Access to IVF is now at stake in Alabama due to the recent ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court,” she said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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“This decision could have serious consequences for people who are desperately seeking to have children, including clinics shutting down, doctors moving out of the state for fear of practicing, pricing increases, and changes in medical practice to avoid lawsuits, which might not be ideal for the patient.”
Ahmad warned that the ruling could result in “profound damage” to fertility care access.
“IVF is a crucial part of reproductive science and allows women to have children who otherwise couldn’t.”
“As physicians, it is our fundamental duty to do no harm, and this could take away our ability to practice medicine in a way that we think is most ethical and safe for our patients,” she added.
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, reacted to the ruling’s impact on IVF availability in an interview with Fox News Digital.
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“IVF is a crucial part of reproductive science and allows women to have children who otherwise couldn’t,” he said.
“Freezing eggs is an important part of the process, because it allows women to utilize these eggs later on when the timing is better or when they have found the right partner.”
An embryologist works on a petri dish at a fertility clinic. Approximately 13.4% of U.S. women between ages 15 to 49 experience infertility, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Freezing embryos also allows a couple more options in terms of timing, Siegel said, which may increase the chance of a viable child.
“It is important that a frozen embryo not be used casually or frozen without plan for use, but I believe that IVF is an important option that brings children to couples,” he said.
“Certainly, if your religious beliefs indicate that life begins at conception, or in forming an embryo, than you should abstain,” he added. “For others, it is an important option.”
Approximately 13.4% of U.S. women between the ages of 15 and 49 experience infertility, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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As colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50, a new report reveals some surprising shifts in the incidence of the disease.
Although rates of CRC have been declining among seniors, those 65 and under are facing a rise in diagnoses, according to a report titled Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2026, from the American Cancer Society.
Adults 65 and younger comprise nearly half (45%) of all new colorectal cancer cases — a significant increase from 27% in 1995, states the report, which was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The disease is rising fastest among adults 20 to 49 years old, at a rate of 3% per year.
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50. (iStock)
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. Although that age group is eligible to receive routine screenings, just 37% do so.
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The report also revealed that rectal cancer is on the rise, now accounting for about one-third (32%) of all CRC cases — an increase from 27% in the mid-2000s.
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“After decades of progress, the risk of dying from colorectal cancer is climbing in younger generations of men and women, confirming a real uptick in disease because of something we’re doing or some other exposure,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report, in a press release.
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. (iStock)
“We need to redouble research efforts to understand the cause, but also circumvent deaths through earlier detection by educating clinicians and the general public about symptoms and increasing screening in people 45-54 years.”
It is projected that 158,850 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed this year, and that the disease will cause 55,230 deaths, per the report.
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More than half of CRC cases can be linked to high-risk behaviors, the researchers said. Those include lack of nutrition, high alcohol consumption, smoking, lack of exercise and obesity.
“These findings further underscore that colorectal cancer is worsening among younger generations and highlight the immediate need for eligible adults to begin screening at the recommended age of 45,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society.
When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%. (iStock)
“The report also shines a light on the crucial importance of continued funding for research to help discover new therapies to treat the disease and advance patient care.”
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When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%, the report stated.
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A new study suggests that middle-aged men may be more vulnerable to faster biological aging, potentially linked to exposure to “forever chemicals.”
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Aging, examined how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, could impact aging at the cellular level.
PFAS are synthetic chemicals commonly used in nonstick cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics and other consumer products, the study noted.
Their chemical structure makes them highly resistant to breaking down, allowing them to accumulate in water, soil and the human body.
Chinese researchers analyzed blood samples from 326 adults enrolled in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2000.
A new study suggests that middle-aged men could face accelerated biological aging at the cellular level due to exposure to PFAS. (iStock)
The researchers measured levels of 11 PFAS compounds in participants’ blood and used DNA-based “epigenetic clocks” — tools that analyze chemical changes to DNA to estimate biological age — to determine how quickly their bodies were aging at the cellular level, the study stated.
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Two compounds, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), were detected in 95% of participants.
Higher concentrations of those chemicals were associated with faster biological aging in men of certain age groups, but not in women.
“People should not panic.”
The compounds most strongly linked to accelerated aging were not the PFAS chemicals that typically receive the most public attention, the researchers noted.
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“The associations were strongest in adults aged 50 to 64, particularly in men,” Dr. Xiangwei Li, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author, told Fox News Digital.
“While this does not establish that PFAS cause aging, it suggests that these widely present ‘forever chemicals’ may be linked to molecular changes related to long-term health and aging.”
The study found that two of the compounds were detected in 95% of participants, and higher levels were linked to faster biological aging in men ages 50–64. (iStock)
Midlife may represent a more sensitive biological period, when the body becomes more vulnerable to age-related stressors, according to the researchers.
Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, may influence biological aging markers, potentially increasing vulnerability to environmental pollutants.
While Li said “people should not panic,” she does recommend looking for reasonable ways to reduce exposure.
That might mean checking local drinking water reports, using certified water filters designed to reduce PFAS, and limiting the use of stain- or grease-resistant products when alternatives are available.
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Meaningful reductions in PFAS exposure will likely depend on broader regulatory action and environmental cleanup efforts, Li added.
The researchers noted that midlife could be a particularly sensitive stage, when the body is more susceptible to stressors associated with aging. (iStock)
Study limitations
The researchers outlined several important limitations of the research, including that the findings show an association, but do not prove that PFAS directly causes accelerated aging.
“The study is cross-sectional, meaning exposure and aging markers were measured at the same time, so we cannot determine causality,” Li told Fox News Digital.
The study was also relatively small, limited to 326 adults age 50 or older, which means the findings may not apply to younger people or broader populations.
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Researchers measured PFAS levels using data collected between 1999 and 2000, and today’s exposure patterns may differ.
Li added that while PFAS is known to persist in the environment and the body, these results should be validated through larger, more recent studies that follow participants over time.
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