A Missouri court upheld the right to reproductive liberty today in a decision supported by the ACLU of Missouri.
Missourians have the right to decide whether and with whom to have children and to avoid forced parenthood, according to an appellate court decision about using frozen zygotes without both parties’ permission.
The ACLU of Missouri filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Justin Gadberry, after his ex-wife, Jalesia McQueen, argued in their divorce case that the court should permit her to implant frozen zygotes in her uterus. Using in vitro fertilization (IVF), Gadberry and McQueen created and froze the zygotes while married. Once they divorced, Gadberry did not wish to have more children with McQueen.
Today’s decision affirms his right not to become a parent against his will.
“Our constitution guarantees the right to liberty and privacy,” said Jeffrey Mittman, ACLU of Missouri Executive Director. “Individuals have the right to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into intimate matters, including the decision to have – or not to have - another child with an ex-spouse.”
According to legal researchers at the ACLU, no court has held ? absent exceptional circumstances or an enforceable contract, both of which are lacking in the McQueen v. Gadberry case ? that a former spouse who wishes to use frozen zygotes to try to procreate may do so without the consent of his or her former partner.
Read the decision and read the ACLU amicus curiae brief below.