Justice Tom Parker invokes God in the Alabama IVF case: In a recent case before the Alabama Supreme Court, it was determined that unlawful death charges may be filed when the ‘victim’ is an embryo. This ruling has caused quite a stir.
The case considered civil sanctions for the unnecessary killing of a “pre-viable unborn child” or embryo. Alabama law allows criminal prosecution in certain situations. In his concurring opinion, Chief Justice Tom Parker cited a previous judicial ruling that questioned the contradiction of criminal culpability for fetus homicide without civil accountability.
The chief justice’s invocation of God shocked several legal experts.Alabama law supported the case. The legal concept of “sanctity of unborn life” includes “godliness,” “the quality or state of being holy or sacred.” Justice Parker disputes the idea that the separation of church and state is a cornerstone of the US legal system because Alabama’s constitution makes many references to God.
The Chief Justice also carefully investigated certain Thomas Aquinas-era legal doctrines. Human life, created in God’s image, could be distinguished from nonhuman life, according to one idea. Justice Parker endorsed Aquinas’ stance by agreeing with various abortion grounds legal scholars have long advocated. Petrus Van Mastricht, a 1630 Reformist theologian, argued, “The image of God in man is nothing more than a conformity of man in which he in measure reflects the utmost perfection of God.” Aquinas influenced Van Mastricht. This shows how the chief uses religious scholarship.
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The inquiries engendered by this case
The Chief Justice supported his legal claims with theology, but he understood that extending these rights to the unborn would be difficult.
Justice Parker may have damaged his case by focusing on the opposing attorney. The family that signed the IVF clinic contract was allowed to destroy the embryos after five years of freezing. Another couple gave medical researchers comparable embryos, which they destroyed.
The families filed a wrongful death complaint because of legal issues surrounding embryo destruction and the accident that unfroze them. The Justice noted the incongruity and said the trial court had not considered these “defenses,” adding that the Supreme Court would not resolve them. To challenge the state’s IVF ban, someone could sue for unlawful death.
Inquire about Chief Justice Tom Parker.
Justice Tom Parker, the Alabama Supreme Court’s highest-ranking justice, has repeatedly stated his personal views, which affect the court’s operations. Justice Parker interviewed famous QAnon conspiracy theorist Johnny Enlow this week. According to Media Matters, Justice Parker supported the “Seven Mountain Mandate,” a theological position that compels Christians to impose fundamentalist ideals on every aspect of American life, during the interview.
His radical views on IVF and abortion demonstrate how his worldview informs his legal interpretation. The Justice says judges are divine instruments who will “carry out their prophetic function in bringing about a resurgence within this country.” Whether other states should follow Alabama’s lead with embryos in labs is unclear. Given their sentience, can these embryos be terminated? Should I get implants? Should they be suspended forever?
