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Embryos, IVF and politics

More fussing and fallout emerged Thursday off the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen human embryos are children in the eyes of current state law.

More clinics in the state announced they would stop offering in vitro fertilization in fear of potentially facing charges over anything that happens to embryos in their clinic.

Politicians sounded off on the topic. U.S. Sen. Katie Britt said in vitro fertilization deserves to be protected by law and that “defending life and ensuring continued access to IVF services for loving parents are not mutually exclusive.”

Our other senator, Tommy Tuberville, was a little less clear when reporters asked him about the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision. “I was all for it,” he said. “We need to have more kids, we need to have an opportunity to do that, and I think this was the right thing to do.”

Of course, fewer IVF options don’t lead to more kids. I’ll bet a dollar and a quarter the senator will make another run at a statement today or over the weekend.

Going back to the state high court’s ruling, you can read into the opinion some uneasiness with the Alabama law it cited, the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act:

“[T]he Wrongful Death of a Minor Act is sweeping and unqualified. It applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation. It is not the role of this Court to craft a new limitation based on our own view of what is or is not wise public policy. That is especially true where, as here, the People of this State have adopted a Constitutional amendment directly aimed at stopping courts from excluding ‘unborn life’ from legal protection.”

In Montgomery, Democratic lawmakers filed a bill in the state House of Representatives that would state that a fertilized human egg or a human embryo outside of a uterus is not to be considered an unborn child or a human being under state law.

If it were to make it into law, it would take effect the moment the governor signed it. It’s sponsored by five Democrats in the House, and a Republican in the Senate, Tim Melson of Florence, said he’ll file a similar bill.

Capitol updates

Let’s quickly cover three more bills of note that advanced on Goat Hill late this week.

First, the bill that could make manslaughter charges apply to people who sell or give away an illegal drug containing fentanyl that causes the death of the user. It passed the Alabama House of Representatives 99-0. Manslaughter can get you 2 to 20 years in prison.

Second, the House also unanimously passed the bill that would apply the state’s child-porn law to images created by artificial intelligence. Also, the felony charge would apply to images of children younger than 18, a year older than the current law states.

And one more: The Senate passed a bill that would prohibit government institutions, including schools, from funding diversity, equity and inclusion offices and from sponsoring programs that advocate “devicive concepts.” The bill also would prohibit colleges and universities from allowing people to use restrooms that are different from their biological sex.

Arts on the move

A longtime Alabama arts festival will be moving this year, reports AL.com’s Mary Colurso.

The Kentuck Festival of the Arts has been held in Northport since 1971. But the festival and the city couldn’t agree on a contract this time around, and so it’s now scheduled for Oct. 19-20 at Snow Hinton Park in Tuscaloosa.

That park is currently closed for renovations. Kentuck organizers say this year’s festival will spread more than 270 artists, craft demonstrations, food trucks and more activities over a 10-acre section of the park.

Don’t touch the bats

I’m not sure who among us needs to hear this, so I’ll say it for everybody: The Alabama Department of Public Health wants to remind everybody to not touch wild bats, reports AL.com’s Dennis Pillion.

I know they’re cute and that it’s hard to resist. But as wildlife officials and viewers of The Office know, bats are prolific carriers of rabies. The health department said it tested 13 Alabama bats that were positive for rabies last year.

You can get the disease from an infected bat by being scratched or bitten. And their teeth are so small that you can be bitten and not even have a visible bite mark to show off.

What they’re telling us is that if there’s any possibility that we’ve been exposed to carefully try to capture the bat, using gloves and maybe a net so you don’t touch the bat. Note that if you hit him in the head to kill him, they probably can’t test him. And definitely seek medical treatment:  Untreated rabies in humans is almost always fatal.

You’re probably like me and can’t imagine any of this ever taking place in your life unless you frequent caves or you end up with a bat infestation in your home. But just in case, now we’re prepared.

More Alabama news

On this date

In 1883, Alabama became the first state to enact an antitrust law. This was a few years before the federal Sherman Act and a couple decades before trust-bustin’ Teddy Roosevelt reached the White House. Alabama’s law prohibited railroads from colluding to divvy up the freight market and fix prices.

On the calendar

March 5: Alabama’s primary election is coming up fast.

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