MissEve
02-09-2005, 05:39 AM
Judge says lost embryo a human
Ruling clears way for couple's suit
By Patrick Rucker
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 6, 2005
An aspiring mother's fertilized egg mistakenly discarded by a fertility clinic was legally a "human being," a Cook County judge ruled Friday, clearing the way for a Chicago couple to file a wrongful-death suit.
If the judge's ruling stands, experts said, it could frustrate the work of fertility clinics and the future of stem-cell research. But attorneys who disagree on the question of when life begins said the ruling likely would be overturned.
"As an anti-abortion activist, I was pleased to see the judge's initiative," said Victor Rosenblum, a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. "But as a lawyer, I can't say that he is on solid ground in his reasoning."
The would-be parents, Alison Miller and Todd Parrish, were having trouble conceiving and turned to the Center for Human Reproduction in January 2000.
After a successful treatment, the married couple believed their fertilized egg--or blastocyst--would be preserved by the Chicago clinic for later implantation.
But when the couple was ready to conceive that June and asked for access to their fertilized egg, they learned it had not been put in frozen storage, but was mistakenly discarded.
The fertility clinic apologized for the "human error" and offered the couple a cycle of free in-vitro fertilization--excluding the cost of medication.
Miller "trusted that the clinic would help her when she was ready to conceive," said her lawyer, James Costello.
The couple first sued for damages in 2002, claiming the incident was a case of wrongful death. Two judges rejected the couple's plea before Friday, when Judge Jeffrey Lawrence offered his ruling and an 11-page memorandum supporting their wrongful-death argument.
Because the state's wrongful-death statute protects the "gestation or development of a human being," Lawrence wrote, the couple had a claim against the clinic.
"Philosophers and theologians may debate," Lawrence wrote, "but there is no doubt in the mind of the Illinois legislature when life begins. It begins at conception."
"We are considering our response," said James Kopriva, the lawyer for the now-defunct fertility center.
Many experts pointed to what they see as flaws in Lawrence's arguments, saying it misrepresents state law and relies on language in a state abortion law that has been invalidated.
The abortion statute's definition that "the unborn child is a human being from the time of conception" has been overruled by legislation legalizing abortion, said Colleen Connell of the American Civil Liberties Union in Chicago.
Although the rules are still on the books, "those provisions of Illinois abortion law have been declared unconstitutional and unenforceable. They have no force of law," she said. If the judge's arguments are upheld, Connell said, enforcing his ruling would put a crimp in fertilization and stem-cell research.
"The problems with defining a pre-implantation egg as a human being are monumental," Connell said. "Suddenly anyone who damaged a fertilized egg would be open to a wrongful-death suit."
Fertility clinics could never dispose of their specimens and researchers would constantly worry that working with fertilized eggs would lead to a lawsuit, Connell said.
"The judge is probably trying to figure out a way for [the couple] to recover from the injury they suffered," Connell said, but she suggested that they might have a stronger case claiming medical malpractice or breach of contract.
Rosenblum, who is a leading figure in Chicago's Americans United for Life and has argued an abortion-related case before the U.S. Supreme Court, said there is a very good chance that the judge's decision would be overturned "once the Appellate Court and [Illinois] Supreme Court get into the act."
"There is no doubt that pro-lifers believe life begins at conception," Rosenblum said, "but there is no sign that the state law upholds that view."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...ack=1&cset=true (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0502060053feb06,1,2332756.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true)
Ruling clears way for couple's suit
By Patrick Rucker
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 6, 2005
An aspiring mother's fertilized egg mistakenly discarded by a fertility clinic was legally a "human being," a Cook County judge ruled Friday, clearing the way for a Chicago couple to file a wrongful-death suit.
If the judge's ruling stands, experts said, it could frustrate the work of fertility clinics and the future of stem-cell research. But attorneys who disagree on the question of when life begins said the ruling likely would be overturned.
"As an anti-abortion activist, I was pleased to see the judge's initiative," said Victor Rosenblum, a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. "But as a lawyer, I can't say that he is on solid ground in his reasoning."
The would-be parents, Alison Miller and Todd Parrish, were having trouble conceiving and turned to the Center for Human Reproduction in January 2000.
After a successful treatment, the married couple believed their fertilized egg--or blastocyst--would be preserved by the Chicago clinic for later implantation.
But when the couple was ready to conceive that June and asked for access to their fertilized egg, they learned it had not been put in frozen storage, but was mistakenly discarded.
The fertility clinic apologized for the "human error" and offered the couple a cycle of free in-vitro fertilization--excluding the cost of medication.
Miller "trusted that the clinic would help her when she was ready to conceive," said her lawyer, James Costello.
The couple first sued for damages in 2002, claiming the incident was a case of wrongful death. Two judges rejected the couple's plea before Friday, when Judge Jeffrey Lawrence offered his ruling and an 11-page memorandum supporting their wrongful-death argument.
Because the state's wrongful-death statute protects the "gestation or development of a human being," Lawrence wrote, the couple had a claim against the clinic.
"Philosophers and theologians may debate," Lawrence wrote, "but there is no doubt in the mind of the Illinois legislature when life begins. It begins at conception."
"We are considering our response," said James Kopriva, the lawyer for the now-defunct fertility center.
Many experts pointed to what they see as flaws in Lawrence's arguments, saying it misrepresents state law and relies on language in a state abortion law that has been invalidated.
The abortion statute's definition that "the unborn child is a human being from the time of conception" has been overruled by legislation legalizing abortion, said Colleen Connell of the American Civil Liberties Union in Chicago.
Although the rules are still on the books, "those provisions of Illinois abortion law have been declared unconstitutional and unenforceable. They have no force of law," she said. If the judge's arguments are upheld, Connell said, enforcing his ruling would put a crimp in fertilization and stem-cell research.
"The problems with defining a pre-implantation egg as a human being are monumental," Connell said. "Suddenly anyone who damaged a fertilized egg would be open to a wrongful-death suit."
Fertility clinics could never dispose of their specimens and researchers would constantly worry that working with fertilized eggs would lead to a lawsuit, Connell said.
"The judge is probably trying to figure out a way for [the couple] to recover from the injury they suffered," Connell said, but she suggested that they might have a stronger case claiming medical malpractice or breach of contract.
Rosenblum, who is a leading figure in Chicago's Americans United for Life and has argued an abortion-related case before the U.S. Supreme Court, said there is a very good chance that the judge's decision would be overturned "once the Appellate Court and [Illinois] Supreme Court get into the act."
"There is no doubt that pro-lifers believe life begins at conception," Rosenblum said, "but there is no sign that the state law upholds that view."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...ack=1&cset=true (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0502060053feb06,1,2332756.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true)