In a dreadful ruling from Fairfax Circuit Judge Richard Gardiner, embryonic human beings are nothing more than property and therefore can be bought and sold. Judge Gardiner cited that the law in Virginia, which dates back to slavery days, does not prohibit the buying and selling of embryos therefore they are little more than “goods or chattels” and a price can be placed on these helpless tiny human lives.

This preliminary ruling in a divorce case removes all possible protections for these human lives simply because they are embryos. The ruling was seen as unacceptable by many, not just pro-life advocates. Others are voicing their distress that this judge sees no problem in creating a class of human beings who can be bought and sold as property based solely on their age.

“Judge Gardiner’s ruling is a step backward in civil and human rights and should be roundly condemned,” said Olivia Gans Turner, President of the Virginia Society for Human Life.

“Whether a human life is conceived in a woman’s body or created and fertilized in a laboratory, the development of every human life is the same. We begin as embryos and simply continue to grow throughout pregnancy and the rest of our lives. Everything about us biologically was present at our fertilization. We are human beings from the very start and should be treated respectfully as such under the law.” said Turner.