(IntegrityTimes.com) – The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) is investigating after an explosive device was detonated outside of the state’s attorney general’s office in Montgomery on February 24. Fortunately, no one was hurt from the explosion, according to a statement released by Attorney General Steve Marshall. ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation was made aware of a suspicious package just after 8 a.m. and determined that it was an explosive device. The agency said that there was no structural damage to any buildings in the area.
Investigators have not publicly speculated on what could have motivated an individual to leave the package outside the AG’s office. Media outlets pointed out that the incident occurred just one week after a controversial ruling from the state’s Supreme Court that said frozen embryos for in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be deemed persons. On February 23, the chief counsel for Marshall made clear that the AG was not planning to use the Court’s decision “as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers.” However, a few IVF clinics in the state stopped providing services after the ruling. State lawmakers are exploring options for legislation that would protect the treatments.
Lawmakers in both chambers have drafted proposals that would only consider a fertilized egg as an unborn child or human after a woman has had the implantation procedure. State Senator Tim Melson, who is also a doctor, said that his legislative proposal would make clear that a fertilized embryo would be considered “potential life” until it is implanted into a woman’s uterus.
The court case involved three couples whose fertilized embryos were destroyed while being held in a storage facility at a clinic in Mobile. A patient at the clinic went into the cryogenic embryo storage room and picked up a frozen vessel, immediately dropping it as it burned her hand. As a result, the embryos inside were destroyed. The Court determined that the couples could file wrongful death lawsuits against the clinic. State Senator Tim Melson said that his legislative proposal would make clear that a fertilized embryo would be considered “potential life” until it is implanted into a woman’s uterus.
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