embryos

The decline appears connected to guidance about the number of embryos transferred through assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization.

Relatively few respondents fully endorse the idea that a fertilized egg should have the same rights as a pregnant woman, but a significant share (46%) say it describes their views at least somewhat well.

Faced with infertility, Christians who believe life begins at or around conception must wrestle with weighty questions related to beliefs and ethics. The dilemma reflects the age-old friction between faith and science at the heart of the recent IVF controversy in Alabama.

Fetal personhood made headlines recently when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are "extrauterine children." The ruling raised questions across the country about fetal personhood.

Alabama lawmakers rushed to protect in vitro fertilization services after fertility clinics shut down in the wake of a ruling that frozen embryos are children under the state wrongful death law.

A Florida bill that would allow people to file wrongful death lawsuits over the death of an "unborn child" was recently been pulled by its Republican sponsor.

Justices, citing anti-abortion language in the Alabama Constitution, ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child "applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location."

Scientists are growing increasingly large and sophisticated clusters of human brain cells. Ethicists are now wondering what to do if these minibrains start thinking.

The hospital system said its investigation suggested that the problems may have been caused by human error, mechanical failure or both. "We failed our fertility clinic patients," said its CEO.

The problem hit a San Francisco clinic on March 4 — the same day that a similar cryogenic tank failure was reported in Cleveland.