Sara Hillard is a featured editorialist from Granite Hills' AP English class. She believes that "Once fertilized, an embryo should be considered as human as you or I," and "[a]s a result, there is a need for society to look at the overall ramifications of this practice, and laws need to be developed as to the treatment and management of the embryos."

The judge cited another Illinois law that specifically found that an "unborn child is a human being from the time of conception and is, therefore, a legal person." The judge supported the wrongful death suit brought against the Chicago Company.

Once fertilized, an embryo should be considered as human as you or I. More and more people are choosing to have their embryos frozen until they are able to provide a suitable life for the child that they have created. As a result, there is a need for society to look at the overall ramifications of this practice, and laws need to be developed as to the treatment and management of the embryos.

Attorney James Costello represented Miller and Parrish in court because of the Chicago Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s error resulting in the death of their embryos.  The couple did not feel the letter of condolence they received from the hospital considered that they lost a child.  In the letter, the hospital merely apologized for a lab tech failing to remember to put the embryos in the freezer.

Costello made it clear that the couple is not trying to make a political statement. According to Costello, “This was a couple who wanted to become parents, this isn’t Roe vs. Wade,” referring to the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

Some positive outcomes resulting from this case are that professionals like Dr. Ralph Kazer, head of the IVF program at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital, are now watching the case with interest. He said the case serves to “simply remind me and to remind my team that we have to continue to be very fastidious about how we handle our embryos.”

There are many different reasons why people take advantage of this technology. The foremost reason is that couples want a child but are not in a position to provide the type of home or support they feel the child needs. The older a woman gets, the chances of her having a healthy pregnancy is greatly reduced. Women who are in the middle of a busy career often feel they cannot give the child enough attention at this point in their life. Some families have one of the parents in active military. These couples want to have children together, but they also run the risk of having one of them dying in combat. Others might have medical conditions, such as cancer, because once through radiation treatment they become sterile and are not able to conceive a child. People who choose to have a child in this manner are people are not able to conceive a child naturally but still want a child.

Research produced only five statutes determining the rights of frozen embryos in California. Each of these statutes either gives the embryo the same rights as a live birth or the parent’s full authority over the future of the embryos. For example, California Health and Safety Codes § 125315, states that patients must be offered several options, including storing any unused embryos, donating them to another individual, discarding the embryos, or donating the remaining embryos for research. Another example is from the 2006 Cal. Stats, Chap. 806. California requires a person who causes conception through assisted reproduction to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of California.  The state permits a person who enters an assisted reproduction agreement to bring an action to establish a parent and child relationship. In other words, these people who become parents through the production of a frozen embryo have the same rights as parents of live births in a California family court. So in case of divorce, death, or absence of a parent, the remaining parent can request sole custody of the embryos.

The solution is two fold.

First, education at the time the embryos are created should be mandated by the medical professional providing the service. This education should include information about the medical process, the legal ramifications if the parents should divorce or change their mind, and about the disposal of any unwanted embryo. The latter is the most important aspect of the educating process. The parents need to know that they have the final say on what happens to any unused embryos. The parents also need to think about how they distinguish if they see the embryo as a child or as a discard able egg.  Once the embryo is created, it is too late for the parent to change their mind and it is important that they have already come to terms with their beliefs.

Secondly, the legislators will need to make clear laws regarding the rights of the embryo. They will need to be careful to remain focused on the issue at hand, and not be pulled into other political arenas such as the abortion issue. The embryo, for example, could be terminated by the parent as abortion is still legal in this country. However, a parent should not be forced to abort their embryo. Similarly, negligent medical professionals should be responsible for following all safety protocols as they would with any other patient.