MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Groups representing Alabama doctors and hospitals urged the state Supreme Court on Friday to revisit a decision equating frozen embryos to children, saying the ruling is blocking fertility treatments and harming the medical community.

The state of Alabama’s Medical Association and Hospital Association jointly filed a brief in support of a request for a rehearing in a highly publicized case that has gained international focus.

The court does not frequently approve these petitions, but the groups claimed that the decision is causing significant effects as fertility clinics halt their IVF offerings. They further stated that it is causing an atmosphere of doubt for the healthcare community.

Attorneys for the groups stated that the ruling by the court will prevent numerous hopeful individuals from becoming parents, which is a heartbreaking situation for the state of Alabama.

In the previous month, the Alabama court made a ruling allowing three couples to bring forward lawsuits against wrongful death for their “extrauterine children”, which were lost due to an incident at a storage facility. This ruling categorized the embryos in the same manner as a child or unborn fetus, creating worries about potential legal responsibilities for clinics.

The parties being sued, the Center for Reproductive Medicine and the Mobile Infirmary, submitted a request for another hearing to the court on Friday.

Lawyers representing the providers contended that the decision is not in line with similar state legislation. The state’s statute on fetal homicide and abortion prohibition were specifically drafted to apply to gestating fetuses and embryos while still in the womb.

In addition, they observed that legislators in Alabama are trying to discover a solution to restart IVF services by proposing legal safeguards for clinics. They wrote, “The hasty response by our Legislature to address the concerns raised by the Court’s ruling suggests that the Legislature’s intention may not be what the Court assumed.”

The individuals suing in the lawsuit had undergone procedures for in vitro fertilization (IVF) which resulted in the production of multiple embryos. Some of these embryos were implanted and resulted in successful births, while others were frozen and stored at the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center at the plaintiffs’ expense.

As per the legal complaint, in the year 2020, a patient entered a storage space through an unsecured door, took out multiple embryos from a chamber, and dropped them, resulting in their destruction.