Virginia slave laws inform judge's ruling on frozen embryos

[mahatmakanejeeves]

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Virginia slave laws inform judge’s ruling on frozen embryos

The Associated Press
March 9, 2023, 1:16 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Frozen human embryos can legally be considered property, or “chattel,” a Virginia judge has ruled, basing his decision in part on a 19th century law governing the treatment of slaves.

The preliminary opinion by Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Richard Gardiner – delivered in a long-running dispute between a divorced husband and wife – is being criticized by some for wrongly and unnecessarily delving into a time in Virginia history when it was legally permissible to own human beings.

“It’s repulsive and it’s morally repugnant,” said Susan Crockin, a lawyer and scholar at Georgetown University’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics and an expert in reproductive technology law.

Solomon Ashby, president of the Old Dominion Bar Association, a professional organization made up primarily of African American lawyers, called Gardiner’s ruling troubling.

{snip}

In a separate part of his opinion, Gardiner also said he erred when he initially concluded that human embryos cannot be sold. ... “As there is no prohibition on the sale of human embryos, they may be valued and sold, and thus may be considered ‘goods or chattels,’” he wrote.

{snip}

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[jimfields33]

1. Virginia needs to change the laws. Lawyers and judges must go with what current law claims.

[sanatanadharma]

2. Judge says embrios are not human beings

“As there is no prohibition on the sale of human embryos, they may be valued and sold, and thus may be considered ‘goods or chattels,” the judge says.

But, there are prohibitions on the sale of human beings; they may not be sold for value, or considered to be goods or chattel.

Therefore, embryos are not human beings, per legal ruling. Run with it.

[Hela]

3. Embryos are not human, and

"possession is 9/10ths of the law," or custody presumes ownership.

Run with it, indeed! "As the owner of the 'chattel' currently in my possession, what I choose to do with it is nobody's business but my own."

Somebody call Planned Parenthood!