February 21, 2024 - Daily Digest
The future of IVF treatments are on the line in Alabama and elsewhere
Today is February 21, 2024, and here are the critical stories that you may have missed from today. If you enjoy this content and want access to more, exclusive content or to support my work, then consider becoming a monthly subscriber below:
1) Alabama Hospital Pauses IVF Treatments After Supreme Court Ruling
Following an Alabama Supreme Court decision where the Court found that fertilized, unimplanted embryos are considered to be humans under the state's wrongful death act, the University of Alabama Birmingham hospital system has paused all future IVF treatments out of fears that its doctors may face criminal prosecution or civil liability in the event a treatment goes wrong. In a new statement released by the health system, the reasoning given for pausing all treatments is as follows:
“We are saddened that this will impact our patients’ attempt to have a baby through IVF, but 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."
The case at issue was filed by an Alabama couple against a hospital under the wrongful death statute where they argued that the hospital should be liable after a patient accessed a cryogenic chamber holding the couple's frozen embryos. The patient later attempted to hold the embryos, dropping them on the ground, thereby making them no longer viable. As a result, the couple sued the hospital for wrongful death. The Alabama trial court ruled that an embryo is not a "human" under the wrongful death statute. But now the Supreme Court, in a 7-2 opinion, overruled the trial court in a decision in an opinion that is riddled with theology and citations to Biblical figures. Specifically, the ruling cited Alabama's Constitution which argues that every life has a value that “cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God.”
This is the first major domino to drop following the controversial 7-2 opinion, one that has reverberated across America as anti-choice activists have begun looking at methods to limit IVF and fertility treatments in other states.
2) Biden Soars Ahead in New Poll as Trump Stumbles
A new poll released by Quinnipiac has President Biden leading a head-to-head matchup with former President Donald Trump by four points.
In the latest poll, Biden leads Trump, earning 49% of the hypothetical vote compared to 45% for Trump. The poll targeted 1,421 registered voters nationwide and had a margin of error at 2.6 percentage points, meaning that Biden's lead falls outside of the margin. When the poll added hypothetical third party candidates, Biden's lead fell to just one point, with the President earning 38 percent of the vote, compared to 37 percent for Trump and 15 percent for independent candidate RFK Jr.
Some other top lines from the poll include President Biden running far ahead of Trump on who voters think is more ethical. 49 percent of voters believe President Biden is ethical, compared to 47 percent who answered no. When asked about Trump, just 28 percent believe he is ethical and 68 percent believe he is not.
In the same poll, 49 percent of respondents said that President Biden has the temperament to effectively serve as President of the United States compared to just 37 percent of respondents who answered in the affirmative for Donald Trump.
3) Biden Administration Forgives Additional $1.2 Billion In Student Debt
Today, the Biden Administration announced that it is forgiving an additional $1.2 billion in student debt for over 153,000 student loan borrowers. This again delivers on the President's campaign promise of forgiving debt for borrowers who have long suffered under the burdens of increasing interest.
According to a release from the Biden Administration, individuals enrolled in the SAVE plan rolled out last year would qualify for the debt relief. Specifically, eligible borrowers would have previously been enrolled in various repayment plan for at least 10 years and originally borrowed less than $12,000 in loans. For each $1,000 borrowed above the $12,000 number, borrowers can receive forgiveness after an additional year of making payments.
4) Russian Prosecutors Open Criminal Case Into Alexei Navalny's Brother, Oleg
According to the TASS State News Agency, Russia has officially opened a criminal case into Alexei Navalny's brother, Oleg Navalny, just days after Alexei Navalny was killed at a Russian penal colony. The release from the state news agency did not identify which article of the criminal code Oleg Navalny was being investigated for or charged under, but Russian authorities are actively looking for Oleg Navalny. He had already been on the country's wanted list in connection with another, unrelated matter. Oleg Navalny had also previously served 3.5 years in a Russian prison for fraud charges back in 2014. That was a case that many in the international community believed was brought by the Russian Government to put pressure on Oleg's brother, Alexei.
This latest news comes just days after Alexei Navalny was killed in a Russian prison. Since Navalny's death, his wife, Yulia Navalnaya has attempted to gain access to his body but has been turned away by Russian authorities. Navalnaya has claimed that Russian authorities are waiting to allow for alleged poison to exit his body. This morning, after Navalnaya announced that she would take over the opposition fight from Alexei, Twitter suspended her newly created account.