Alabama Supreme Court considers frozen embryos to be children

Alabama Supreme Court considers frozen embryos to be children

4 mins

THE New York Times talks about “ a real shock wave for the world of reproductive medicine ” And quotes the White House spokesperson: Karine Jean-Pierre believes that this decision “ will cause exactly the type of chaos we expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (removing the federal protection that abortion previously enjoyed), and opened the way for politicians to impose their views on what is among a family’s most personal decisions “. Each year, 2% of births in the United States involve in vitro fertilization, writes USA Today : several eggs are collected, fertilized and implanted to initiate a pregnancy. However, writes the local news site al.com in its editorial, “ Alabama has now become so “pro-life” that people who desperately want to be parents might not have children. “.

Because this decision raises many questions for future parents as well as for doctors: questions, writes USA Todayon what will happen to embryos that have not been used and are put aside: can the authorities order them to be implanted in parents who do not want them, can they carry child abuse complaint, and what will happen if a doctor implants embryos that don’t develop? » And even, estimates in al.com the president of the National Infertility Association, “ if the embryos used in IVF are children, human beings, can human beings be frozen? And who bears responsibility? “.

Faced with this gigantic uncertainty, doctors do not know if they will have to change their fertilization procedures, writes the Washington Post ; couples flock to online support groups, wondering if they should transfer their embryos out of state; and lawyers warn that divorce agreements requiring frozen embryos to be destroyed are (possibly) null and void. “ The biggest and most immediate question “, writing al.comit is to know if fertility clinics will be able to continue to exist in Alabama “, and once we have answered this question, ” how to attract or retain talented people in a companystate such as ours “.

ELN freezes Colombia peace talks

In Colombia, the guerrillas announce the freezing of peace talks with the government. According to a press release from the ELN, taken up by The Spectatorthe Colombian government, through the peace commission, the armed forces and the police are violating the pact decided during the negotiations “. The guerrillas criticize in particular the establishment of a regional dialogue with the department of Narino, in the southwest of the country, outside of the talks. In El Colombianothe governor of Narino believes that “ national dialogues are one thing, but territorializing peace is another “. For his part, reports weekthe government speaks of “ unilateral decisions » of the ELN leading to “ unnecessary crisis (…) which prolong the armed confrontation and the violence suffered by the communities, and weaken the confidence of Colombian society in its desire for peace “.

In Argentina, the Milei government decrees a 30% increase in the minimum wage

In March, the minimum wage will increase to 202,800 pesos, or $230. But in fact, this 30% increase decreed by the government “ imply a loss of 30% compared to the month of December », calculates Page 12, due to inflation. The Salary Council meeting last week ended in failure, recalls The Nation. The unions had asked for an 85% increase in salaries, the company representatives had refused it – without making a proposal on their side, note Page 12 – and for its part the government has not “ encouraged debate or offered mediation “. The CGT had also placed the blame on the Milei government, writing The Nation : “ in these times of extremely high inflation (more than 250% per year), establishing a social floor is necessary and urgent “.

Tribute to Paco de Lucia

This Sunday, it will be ten years since the great Spanish musician and reinventor of flamenco Paco de Lucia died. El Tiempo recounts how during one of his trips, the guitarist stopped in front of the salt cathedral of Zipaquira, inside the salt mines of Zipaquirá, in the Savannah of Bogota. Charmed, the musician composed a theme to pay homage to its beauty, “Monasterio de Sal”, the salt monastery. A story that will be remembered this weekend during the launch of the second Flamenco Biennial of Bogota, at the Teatro Colsubsidio, an edition dedicated to Paco de Lucía.

rf-5-general