Fertility Law Attorney AshLeigh Dunham -Rep. Lands’ Bill is Necessary for Families Wanting IVF
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 23, 2026
Birmingham, AL
Supreme Court Justice Candidate and IVF mom, AshLeigh Dunham Urges Passage of HB642
Birmingham, Al. — March 23, 2026— With five days left in the Alabama State Legislature session, Representative Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville, introduced HB642, otherwise known as the “Alabama Family Planning Act.”
Under current Alabama law, there is no clear, explicit protection for an individual’s right to access contraception or assisted reproductive treatments like IVF, nor for the providers who offer that care.
This bill would establish those protections by affirming that individuals have the right to use contraception and seek fertility treatment, and that health care providers have the right to provide those services and share information with their patients.
The legislation also creates a path to enforce those rights. It allows the Attorney General, health care providers, and individuals to bring a civil action to stop any law, rule, or policy that interferes with access to contraception or assisted reproductive care.
Many Alabama families are under the impression that IVF is now protected. According to Alabama Supreme Court candidate, fertility law attorney, former juvenile court referee, and IVF mother AshLeigh Dunham, that reassurance does not reflect the legal reality that families are still facing.
“I had to leave my own state in order to become a mother through IVF, and that was before the LePage decision was ever released,” Dunham said. “I can’t imagine the burden families are facing now, especially after we watched clinics across Alabama shut down almost overnight. Some never reopened.”
The LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine decision (2024) held that frozen embryos created through IVF can be considered “children” under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, allowing parents to pursue wrongful death claims after embryos were accidentally destroyed at a clinic. The Court based its reasoning on the state constitution’s recognition of the “sanctity of unborn life,” extending that interpretation to embryos outside the womb. The ruling led fertility clinics across Alabama to pause IVF services due to potential legal risk, and although the Legislature later passed a law granting providers immunity, the Court’s underlying constitutional interpretation remains in place, leaving ongoing uncertainty about the future of IVF access in the state.
Following this decision, fertility clinics paused services statewide, leaving families uncertain about whether treatment and family planning could continue.
“Despite what people have been told, we are still only one court case away from losing access again,” Dunham said. “The legal theories behind that decision have not gone away. As we stand today, IVF is unconstitutional in Alabama. That is not pro-family.”
After the ruling, the Alabama Legislature passed a statute intended to allow clinics to reopen. However, Dunham says that the law does not permanently resolve the constitutional issues raised in the decision, and it leaves families who have to turn to IVF at greater risk of losing tens of thousands of dollars.
“The current statute primarily provides liability protection for providers,” Dunham said. “It does not change the constitutional interpretation that embryos may be treated as children under Alabama law. That means access to IVF still depends on how future courts interpret those same legal questions.”
Dunham also emphasized that the consequences of the decision reach far beyond clinic availability.
“We are not fully talking about the legal impact this has on families’ ability to make personal decisions about their own embryos,” she said. “This affects couples during marriage, during divorce, and in their agreements with clinics. These are deeply personal decisions that families, not the government, should be making.”
According to Dunham, clinics have already been forced to change how they handle embryos as a result of legal uncertainty.
“Some clinics have been shipping embryos that are not compatible with life out of state, requiring families to pay additional costs just to comply with a legal risk. Our doctors are scared to treat and advise patients who have infertility, and our government is at fault,” she said.
“This is a privacy issue,” Dunham continued. “The ramifications of this decision reach directly into marriages, divorces, and conversations families should be allowed to have with their doctors without government interference.”
Dunham urged lawmakers to pass Marilyn’s bill to provide stronger protection for IVF access across Alabama families, specifically those who currently face all the risks.
“No family should have to leave Alabama to become a parent,” she said. “And no family should have to live with uncertainty about whether courts or policymakers will change the rules in the middle of their fertility journey.”
“Alabama families deserve stability, clarity, and the freedom to make decisions about their own futures without the government in their exam rooms.”
####
ABOUT ASHLEIGH DUNHAM:
For more than 15 years, AshLeigh’s work has centered on protecting children, families, and constitutional rights. As a juvenile court referee and special sitting circuit judge, she made decisions that immediately affected families, like where children would live, how parents would move forward, and what justice looked like in real time. As a litigator, she has spent years inside courtrooms building cases, weighing evidence, and understanding how the legal system works for the people inside it. And through her work with the bar, she has helped ensure Alabama’s laws keep pace with the realities of modern families.
AshLeigh is running for Alabama Supreme Court Justice because she believes Alabamians deserve dignity and equality. Learn more about AshLeigh at AshLeighforAlabama.com
