
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 13, 1990                   TAG: 9004130204
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TENN.                                LENGTH: Short

APPEAL FILED IN TENN. FROZEN-EMBRYO FIGHT

A judge's decision to give legal protection to seven frozen human embryos went far beyond his authority and should be overturned, an attorney said in an appeal filed Thursday.

The ruling was made in September in the divorce case of Junior Lewis Davis and Mary Sue Davis. The only issue was what to do with the eggs that resulted from in-vitro fertilization in December 1988.

Mary Sue Davis testified that she wanted control of the embryos in an attempt to have children. Junior Lewis Davis said he did not want the embryos used in any fashion without his consent, especially by his ex-wife.

Blount County Circuit Judge Dale Young ruled that "life begins at conception" and accorded the embryos the same legal status as children would have in a custody dispute between their parents.

by CNB