On Feb. 21, 2024, the University of Alabama at Birmingham health system announced it was pausing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments for all current or prospective patients. “We are saddened that this will impact our patients’ attempt to have a baby through IVF,” the health system said in a statement at the time. “We must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments.” Two additional fertility treatment facilities—Alabama Fertility and the Center for Reproductive Medicine at Mobile Infirmary—followed suit, impacting hundreds of patients and an untold number of hopeful families.
