Ohio appellate court rules lost embryos were not living persons

By Randy Buffington | May 3, 2019 at 5:52 AM EDT - Updated May 3 at 7:26 AM

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - An Ohio appellate court recently ruled that an embryo of one Cleveland family shouldn’t be considered a living person.

The 8th District Ohio Court of Appeals ruled Thursday against Rick and Wendy Penniman, who were seeking a declaration regarding their embryos, which were lost in a freezer malfunction at University Hospitals last year.

More of their story below:

An Ohio family is devastated after court rules their lost embryos at University Hospitals weren't living persons. https://bit.ly/2vzG0dN This case stems from an incident in March 2018 where a nitrogen storage tank failed, leading to the destruction of thousands of eggs and embryos.
Posted by Cleveland 19 News on Friday, May 3, 2019

Their attorney argued before a panel of judges that an embryo should be considered a person and not property, and the judge ruled otherwise.

It was a 2-1 ruling in the Ohio State Court of Appeals.

This case stems from an incident in March 2018 where a nitrogen storage tank failed, leading to the destruction of thousands of eggs and embryos.

University Hospitals said human error was an issue in the incident, as the tank was turned off.

They released a statement a Friday morning:

"We agree with the Court of Appeals’ decision to apply settled Ohio law with regard to embryos in the context of this case.”