Accountability
Virginia judge uses slavery-era precedent to rule frozen embryos are property in divorce proceeding
A Virginia judge ruled last month that frozen embryos are property under the law based on a slavery-era precedent that dictates how to divide “goods and chattel” in the state.
Judge Richard Gardiner ruled on a divorce case in Fairfax County in which a husband and wife are battling over the fate of embryos they froze as a married couple. The wife wishes to use the embryos, while the husband does not agree. Gardiner issued a ruling in February saying the embryos amount to property, and under a Virginia state law enacted in the 19th century, can be applied to humans because it was once applied to slaves.
Gardiner previously appeared to lean toward the opinion that because the embryos could not be bought or sold, they could not amount to property, but after being prompted to reconsider by attorneys for the husband in the divorce proceeding, decided that because the law had applied to human slaves at one point, the embryos could also be considered property to be contested in a divorce proceeding.
Activists and scholars alike have criticized the judge’s ruling. “I would like to think that the bench and the bar would be seeking more modern precedent,” said president of the Old Dominion Bar Association, Solomon Ashby, to The Associated Press. “Hopefully, the jurisprudence will advance in the commonwealth of Virginia such that … we will no longer see slave codes” cited to justify legal rulings.”
The ruling is not final but a preliminary opinion written by Gardiner. A final ruling is forthcoming.
Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.
-
Civilization4 days agoThe SAVE Act Won’t Close the Door – Only an Amendment Will
-
Civilization3 days agoThe Left’s Disturbing Reaction to a Would-Be Assassin
-
Civilization2 days agoSixty-Six Percent – What Americans Think Socialism Means
-
Civilization5 days agoAmerica First Raising
-
Executive5 days agoA Partnership Blueprint for America’s Defense Industrial Renewal
-
Civilization4 days agoFrom Sea Control to Seabed Control
-
Civilization3 days agoDemocrats Make It Clear That If They Retake Power, U.S. Energy Security Will Once Again Be at Risk
-
Executive2 days agoWaste of the Day: Record Overtime in L.A.
Sounds like the wife still wants to have children and she wants their children. Just because the embryos are frozen does not change the facts that are children.