Australia's High Court has ruled in favor of an inmate seeking to freeze her eggs, overturning a previous decision that classified the procedure as prohibited assisted reproductive technology under state law. Rachel Smith, who is serving a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking in Queensland, argued that the ban breached her human rights.
Smith will be eligible for parole at age 39 and her full sentence ends when she is 41. To mitigate the risk of age-related infertility, she applied for approval to undergo egg freezing while incarcerated. However, Corrections Queensland interpreted the Corrective Services Act 2006 to prohibit such procedures.
After being unsuccessful in the supreme court and the state’s court of appeal, Smith took her case to the High Court. On Wednesday, the High Court accepted her appeal, with Justice Jayne Jagot stating that the lower courts had "misconstrued" the Act. The ruling concluded that Smith was entitled to apply for egg extraction and freezing to be undertaken by her nominated health practitioner, and that this did not constitute 'assisted reproductive technology'.
The court set aside the previous orders and directed Corrections Queensland to determine Smith's application anew, as soon as reasonably possible, given the expedited nature of the appeal. Corrections was also ordered to cover Smith's legal costs.