In the US, the increase in the number of frozen embryos, currently amounting to millions, inevitably leads to disputes surrounding their fate. Judges have often, although not always, ruled in favour of the person who refused to consent to the embryos being used, sometimes ordering their destruction in the belief that parenthood should not be imposed.
However, in Arizona, a law came into force on 1 July stipulating that the embryos should be given to the party intending to develop them to birth.
This could impact on fertility practices and fuel the debate on when does human life actually start. According to some, frozen embryos are not just simple tissue over which people can exert property rights, but human beings who should be granted their own specific rights.
For advocates of the “right to abortion”, the law could challenge abortion. If a one day-old frozen embryo has a right to life then why not a one day-old embryo in its mother’s womb?
Source : Washington Post, Ariana Eunjung Cha (17/07/2018) – : Who gets the embryos? Whoever wants to make them into babies, new law says