The Alabama Supreme Court has issued a landmark ruling in defense of innocent life that could have a sweeping impact on in-vitro fertilization across the United States.

“Unborn children are ‘children’ … without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics,” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in a decision last week that effectively classifies frozen embryos as human beings deserving of protection.

On Friday, Feb. 9, the court ruled 8-1 to allow a pair of wrongful death lawsuits filed by three couples who were suing two fertility clinics to continue. The case had been tossed out in 2022 by Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Jill Parrish Phillips, who said the law did not apply to embryos outside the womb.

The plaintiffs were suing the Center for Reproductive Medicine and the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center after staff dropped their embryos on the ground, leading to their death. The couples successfully argued that the state’s 1872 Wrongful Death of a Minor Act had been violated.

“Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory,” Chief Justice Tom Parker said in a concurring majority opinion that has been decried as “theocratic” by critics.

The justices additionally pointed to a 2018 referendum approved by 60% of voters to justify their ruling. The proposal added language to the Alabama Constitution that said it is “the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.”

“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,” the judges said. “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.”

Current Alabama law prohibits abortion for any reason other than threats to the mother’s life.

Pro-abortion activists have expressed near-universal outrage over the court’s decision.

Resolve: The National Infertility Association told the Associated Press that the ruling was a “terrifying development.” White House Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state.”

Lila Rose of the pro-life group Live Action praised the judges for issuing what she has called an “important step” toward protection for all unborn children.

“This decision made by the Alabama Supreme Court affirms the scientific reality that a new human life begins at the moment of fertilization,” she said. “Each person, from the tiniest embryo to an elder nearing the end of his life, has incalculable value that deserves and is guaranteed legal protection.”

This ruling “rightly acknowledged the humanity of unborn children created through in vitro fertilization,” Rose added, and it is “an important step towards applying equal protection for all.”