ABORTIONISTS SUE TO STOP TEXAS FROM REQUIRING BURIAL, CREMATION OF ABORTED BABIES

ABORTIONISTS SUE TO STOP TEXAS FROM REQUIRING BURIAL, CREMATION OF ABORTED BABIES
BY HEATHER CLARK
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
 AUSTIN — A coalition of abortion providers have 
filed suit in an effort to stop Texas officials from requiring that they
 bury or cremate the bodies of the unborn children they kill instead of 
having them incinerated with medical waste and dumped in landfills.

“The regulation enshrines into law an exceedingly narrow set of
beliefs regarding embryonic and fetal personhood, and what is
appropriate for the disposition of embryonic and fetal tissue,” the lawsuit,
filed on Monday, asserts. “These views do not reflect the diversity of
views people hold about when human life begins and about the proper
disposition of bodies.”

As previously reported, the rule, requested by Gov. Greg Abbott, is set to take effect on Dec. 19.

“Governor Abbott believes human and fetal remains should not be
treated like medical waste, and the proposed rule changes affirms the
value and dignity of all life,” spokesperson Ciara Matthews said in a
statement in July when the proposal was first announced. “For the
unborn, the mothers and the hospital and clinic staff, the governor
believes it is imperative to establish higher standards that reflect our
respect for the sanctity of life.”

Abortion facilities customarily contract with third party medical
waste companies to dispose of the aborted babies, which are usually
classified as “pathological waste.” The containers of aborted babies,
mixed in with boxes of bodily fluids, tissues and other items that are
not permitted to be thrown in the trash, are then transported to an
incineration plant where they are burned into ash and then dumped into
landfills.

However, current Texas law also allows for other types of disposal,
including “grinding and discharging to a sanitary sewer system,”
“chlorine disinfection/maceration followed by deposition in a sanitary
landfill” or other “approved alternate treatment process, provided that
the process renders the item as unrecognizable, followed by deposition
in a sanitary landfill.”

The new law will now mandate that abortionists utilize services provided by funeral homes rather than medical waste companies.

Therefore, several abortion facilities are seeking to put a stop to
the requirement, with Whole Woman’s Health, Brookside Women’s Medical
Center, Austin Women’s Health Center, Alamo Women’s Reproductive
Services, and others filing suit. As previously reported, the medical waste company Stericycle was fined $42,000 in 2011 for dumping fetal remains from Whole Woman’s Health with household and commercial trash.

“It imposes a funeral ritual on women who have a miscarriage
management procedure, ectopic pregnancy surgery, or an abortion,” the
legal challenge, filed in part by the New York-based Center for
Reproductive Rights, reads. “It also forces healthcare providers to work
with an extremely limited number of third-party vendors for burial or
scattering ashes, threatening abortion clinics’ provision of care and
their long-term ability to remain open, as well as cost increases for
women seeking pregnancy-related medical care.”

It also asserts that the plaintiffs aren’t aware of any burial or
cremation service that isn’t more expensive than using a medical waste
disposal service, and that the rule will make women feel shame and guilt
over ending the life of their unborn child.

“By depriving women of the moral agency to act in accordance with
their own views about personhood, the regulation deprives women of
dignity,” the suit states. “The regulation’s imposition onto women’s
autonomy and invasion of their privacy will also harm women spiritually
and emotionally, causing trauma, guilt, shame, anger, and
feelings of exploitation and violation.”

The abortion providers are therefore seeking an injunction, as well as a declaration that the rule is unconstitutional.

“Governor Abbott believes human and fetal remains should not be
treated like medical waste, and the proposed rule changes affirms the
value and dignity of all life,” Matthews said on Monday in response to
the suit. “For the unborn, the mothers and the hospital and clinic
staff, the governor believes it is imperative to establish higher
standards that reflect our respect for the sanctity of life.”

Abortion is Murder from I’ll Be Honest on Vimeo.