Alabama
Physicians share concerns over IVF treatments pausing after Alabama court ruling
Dr. Beth Malizia, an Alabama physician, went through 12 years of training to provide patients with fertility care. But the doctor and co-owner of Alabama Fertility says her hands are tied after the Alabama Supreme Court issued a decision that frozen embryos are considered children.
The clinic is one of three facilities in the state that have halted in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments amid concerns that their practices could run into legal troubles.
“Patients come first. That’s what we’re taught all the way through from the time we decide to go into medicine, and this is a decision that sort of takes that away from us,” Malizia said.
“The counsel, our lab director and all the physicians at Alabama Fertility have struggled with this for many hours and some made some really, really hard phone calls over the last couple of days,” said Malizia.
The clinic has paused all frozen embryo transfers, but will continue new patient visits, other standard fertility care, surgeries and continue care for patients currently on medications who are in the middle of a cycle, Malizia said.
Making calls to patients whose treatment the clinic paused has been “absolutely horrible” and “heart-wrenching,” she said.
Dr. Beth Malizia is interviewed by ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze.
ABC News
In the ruling, the court said it would open door to civil and potentially criminal lawsuits over the mishandling of embryos. Physicians like Malizia say they are now fearful they could face wrongful death lawsuits — or potentially criminal charges — for discarding unused embryos, a routine part of IVF, or unintentionally mishandling embryos.
The ruling came as part of a lawsuit filed by couples whose embryos were destroyed after a patient wandered into a fertility clinic and dropped them. The couples tried to file a wrongful death suit, but a lower court had thrown out the case. The state Supreme Court then reversed that decision and set a new precedent that embryos are children.
In a concurring opinion, Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker – who has a long record of issuing anti-abortion opinions – cited Scripture, writing that “human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God.”
Among the three fertility providers that suspended IVF treatment is the state’s largest healthcare system, UAB Hospital. Four remaining providers have not suspended IVF treatment.
“We are in a position where we just don’t know what the legal ramifications are of an embryo that gets thawed. Embryos don’t always survive [transfer],” Malizia said.
Signs of more clarity began to surface on Friday, after a week of pushback on the ruling from families trying to conceive through IVF and an outpouring of criticism, particularly from Democrats and moderate Republicans.
Alabama Fertility, an IVF clinic, is shown in Birmingham, Alabama, on Feb. 23, 2024.
Dustin Chambers/Reuters
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the state’s top law enforcement official, said he has no intention of “using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers,” the office’s Chief Counsel Katherin Robertson said in a statement Friday.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey also said Friday that she’s “working on a solution” with Republican colleagues in the House and Senate to pass legislation that would guard IVF treatments in the state.
“Following the ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court, I said that in our state, we work to foster a culture of life. This certainly includes some couples hoping and praying to be parents who utilize IVF,” Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement to ABC News.
But the legal ruling has shown the fragility of IVF treatment in a post-Roe vs. Wade America, where the debate over when life begins has led many abortion rights advocates to speculate that IVF could become collateral damage.
Some physicians could be deterred from working in fertility in Alabama, said Sean Tipton, chief advocacy and policy officer at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Tipon said physicians in the state are scared. “They are also angry, which is understandable, and they are also tremendously sad for their patients, in part because they don’t know what to tell their patients,” said Tipton.
“Just imagine being a physician who you’ve built your career on being able to help these people have babies, and you spend a lot of time reassuring, explaining, helping them understand and feel better about the process they’re going through — and now you can offer none of that,” Tipton said of physicians.
In this Dec. 20. 2017, file photo, nitrogen tanks holding tens of thousands of frozen embryos and eggs sit in the embryology lab at New Hope Fertility Center in New York.
The Washington Post via Getty Images, FILE
The fallout from the court ruling could spread beyond IVF treatment, Tipton said.
“I think the first impact with physicians is going to be young physicians choosing not to go there for their training. [And] University of Alabama Birmingham is one of the top public medical schools in the country,” Tipton said.
Tipton said the decision and risk of being sued could also discourage other medical workers, including nurses, from working in fertility clinics in the state; they would likely consider working in other specialties or even leaving the state.
Tipton heavily criticized the decision and its consequences.
“It absolutely makes no sense that people who loudly proclaim themselves to be ‘pro-life’ somehow oppose the use of what is the most ‘pro-life’ medical procedure there is out there. The only thing that in vitro fertilization does is help people have children,” Tipton said.
Patients struggle with news IVF has been paused
Patients interviewed by ABC News shared their heartbreak and concerns over not being able to continue their IVF treatments. For fertility patients in Alabama looking to start or expand their families, the past week has brought a lot of sudden changes to the carefully laid plans often required by the IVF process.
Gabbie Price, 26, and her husband have been financially planning to begin IVF for over a year, downsizing from a house to a camper van to cut costs and getting a new job because of the fertility benefits.
But their plan to start treatment in March has been halted by the ruling. Price said they’re now exploring options out-of-state because even if they found a clinic in Alabama to handle her care, she would be concerned about the potential liabilities.
“I’m terrified to have embryos here,” Price said at her home in Leeds, Alabama.
“I don’t know what that’s gonna look like, I don’t know what sort of rights we’re going to have over the embryos that we create,” she said.
Alabama IVP patient Gabby Price is interviewed by ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze.
ABC News
Tucker Legerski and his wife, who live in nearby Tuscaloosa, Alabama, have been trying to have children since they got married in 2021. They began IVF about a year ago.
Their first embryo transfer ended with a miscarriage at eight weeks.
They were planning their second embryo transfer for some time in April, but the court decision upended their plans.
“Those embryos are our best hope for making kids right now. So that’s what hurts the most, I think,” Legerski said.
“If we aren’t able to use those embryos, then we have a much lower chance of having children,” Legerski said.
Angela Granger, 41, a Georgia resident who traveled to Alabama for IVF treatment to conceive her son, told ABC News she turned to the procedure after an ectopic pregnancy almost cost her one of her fallopian tubes.
Granger, who delivered her son in May 2021, and has been hoping to add another child to her family, decided after the state Supreme Court ruling that she wouldn’t pursue IVF in Alabama. While encouraged by lawmakers who say they will take action to protect the procedure, Granger said she needs to see legislation “in writing” before she is comfortable enough to undergo treatment or even store embryos there.
On Thursday, she was offered a job nearly 2,000 miles west, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She accepted.
“A big part of that is to get out of the south. If I wanted to really push and wait, I’m sure I could find a job down here. But this is just too much. I take it as a sign,” Granger said.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – You don’t find too many camps where you learn how to slap someone. But this summer, you will in Montgomery. It’s one of many kids camps put on by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
“We have our Camp Shakespeare Junior which is our half day for the littles, kindergarten through 3rd grade,” said Cameron Williams, the ASF director of education. “We have Big Kid Shakespeare camp and everyone is learning all about ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.”
They learn about on stage combat, different acting techniques, and also how to be creative and think on their feet.
“I think theater skills are life skills. So, what makes this camp special is we’re doing more than just boosting literacy and doing theater things. We’re doing life skills, learning what it means to be team players, about discipline, and working with people who may have different personalities than you.”
Different kids have different talents. And even if your child isn’t up for a lead role in the next play, this place can leave a lasting impact.
“If you’re looking for a place where your kid can come out of their shell, to learn how to speak in front of a group, and develop some confidence, this is the place to be.”
It’s a place that’s a real treasure in Montgomery, and its mining some young gems, who one day, could be on the big stage themselves. There are still more ASF camps going on this summer for pre-teens and even adults.
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Huntsville-based defense contractor LOGZONE Inc. has agreed to pay $507,144 to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with cybersecurity requirements in contracts with the U.S. Department of the Navy, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The settlement resolves claims brought under the False Claims Act alleging that LOGZONE knowingly submitted claims for payment while not meeting certain cybersecurity standards required under two Navy contracts.
Federal officials alleged that between May 2021 and March 2025, LOGZONE did not implement specific cybersecurity controls outlined in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-171. The standards are designed to protect sensitive defense information handled by government contractors.
According to the Justice Department, the deficiencies were identified during an assessment conducted by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). The evaluation resulted in LOGZONE receiving a score of -170 on a scale ranging from -203 to 110, indicating significant gaps in compliance with required security controls.
The government alleged that the missing cybersecurity measures could have increased the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information or the exploitation of company systems.
The settlement does not include a determination of liability. As part of the agreement, LOGZONE will pay $507,144 to resolve the allegations.
Federal officials said the enforcement action reflects ongoing efforts to ensure government contractors comply with cybersecurity obligations tied to federal contracts, particularly those involving sensitive defense information.
The investigation and settlement involved the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, the Department of the Navy, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
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Additional details regarding corrective actions taken by the company were not immediately available.
Alabama
Alabama’s Self-Proclaimed ‘AI Watchman’ Unseats Incumbent Public Service Commissioner – Inside Climate News
MOBILE, Ala.—Jim Zeigler didn’t have much time to celebrate.
The morning after his Republican primary victory on Tuesday and a gathering of supporters at Wintzell’s Oyster House, the 78-year-old hit the road early to drive the nearly four hours to his hometown of Sylacauga, southwest of Birmingham, to attend a funeral.
But even this early, Zeigler already had his mind on November.
“It’s going to be a tough, tough race,” Zeigler said.
He may be right.
Like Republicans across the South, Zeigler pointed to recent public service commission elections in Georgia—two Republican to Democratic flips—as a seeming electoral mandate from voters: Lower energy bills and curb data centers, or face citizens’ wrath at the ballot box.
But, Zeigler said, he believes Democrats’ success in Georgia also came because of an influx of campaign cash from out-of-state donors—a challenge he said he anticipates Alabama Republicans in utility regulation races will face in November as well.
“It’s not only a possibility that kind of campaign will be attempted in Alabama,” Zeigler said. “It sneaked up on the Republicans of Georgia. It won’t sneak up on me.”
The election of a Democrat to one of Alabama’s at-large PSC seats would be a major electoral shakeup. The last Democrat to serve on the body was elected in 2008.
Zeigler said his aim in the campaign—both in the primary and general—is to channel voters’ frustrations about data centers and solar farms.
It was those issues, according to Zeigler, that put him past the finish line in the race against his Republican opponent, Chris Beeker, an incumbent with a 5 to 1 campaign finance advantage.
Beeker, who was appointed to serve the remainder of his father’s term, ran a much less vocal campaign, a stark contrast to Zeigler’s.
During his campaign, Zeigler has promised he will serve as an “AI watchman in Alabama,” shielding residents from the economic and environmental burdens of the data centers that power AI technology.
He said he will soon begin rolling out a detailed plan about how he’ll conduct that oversight. One of the first things that should be made public, Zeigler said, is a list of all data centers in Alabama currently operating, proposed or under construction.
“Right now there is no such a list available to the public,” Zeigler said.
Both Alabama Power and the Alabama Public Service Commission have declined requests by Inside Climate News for such a list.
Still, despite Zeigler’s pledges, the ability of he or any other public service commissioner to regulate industry effectively will soon be more limited than ever before. Earlier this year, the Alabama Legislature passed a law expanding the commission from three to seven seats and consolidating regulatory power in a newly-created secretary of energy.
Experts said the legislation stood to benefit Alabama Power, the state’s largest utility, by making the initiation of rate cases scrutinizing energy prices more difficult.
Zeigler seemed reticent to criticize the new law on Wednesday.
“The fact is it’s law,” he said. “It’s something that I’m just going to have to live with. Move on.”
This won’t be Zeigler’s first time serving on the body. A perennial candidate, he served on the Public Service Commission for a single term from 1975 to 1979. Half a century later, after running for various offices and serving as Alabama’s state auditor from 2015 to 2023, Zeigler said he recognizes that if he wins in November, he’ll be serving in a state much different than it was all that time ago. In 1979, Zeigler said, no one had heard of a data center, much less had one proposed to be built in their back yard. Times have changed. Now, Zeigler himself is figuring out how to deal with ever-evolving technology.
Zeigler said while his campaign hasn’t generated AI images for publication, it may have shared some created by supporters. Both Zeigler’s website and social media pages feature AI-generated images, one portraying Zeigler in a heroic stance, “THE WATCHMAN” emblazoned across the bottom.
In it, Zeigler holds a bottle labeled “sunlight, integrity, common sense and sweet tea.” Zeigler, in a houndstooth blazer, a cape and a “people over profits” belt buckle, appears above a monster truck painted in the University of Alabama’s crimson and white. “Zeigler,” the side of the truck says. “Watching out for Alabama!”
Ultimately, Zeigler said it doesn’t matter if his campaign or supporters use AI-generated images in his run for office.
“I guess eventually I’m going to have to learn how to use AI,” he said. “But the idea that you can’t be a watchman over data centers and try to oversee them if you use any AI yourself is a juvenile analysis.”
Zeigler will face Democrat Sheila McNeil in the November election.
About This Story
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Thank you,
Lee Hedgepeth
Reporter, Alabama
Lee Hedgepeth is Inside Climate News’ Alabama reporter. Raised in Grand Bay, Alabama, a small town on the Gulf Coast, Lee holds master’s degrees in community journalism and political development from the University of Alabama and Tulane University. Lee is the founder of Tread, a newsletter of Southern journalism, and has also worked for news outlets across Alabama, including CBS 42, Alabama Political Reporter and the Anniston Star. His reporting has focused on issues impacting members of marginalized groups, including homelessness, poverty, and the death penalty. His award-winning journalism has appeared in publications across the country and has been cited by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, among others.
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