Alabama’s Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos are people, the first time a court has ever given rights and protections so early after conception.
The ruling is limited to Alabama, but it has far-reaching potential and seems poised to open a new front in the fight over reproductive rights in the country.
Alabama has one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, and advocates and legal experts worry it could show a path forward for the “personhood” movement in other conservative states.
The White House on Tuesday condemned the decision as “exactly the type of chaos that we expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for politicians to dictate some of the most personal decisions families can make.”
Here’s what to know: