https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...re-aborted-fetustes-to-be-cremated-or-buried/
After months of fierce opposition from abortion rights advocates and the medical community, Texas will require fetal remains to be cremated or buried instead of disposed in sanitary landfills.
On Monday, health officials finalized the new rules prohibiting hospitals, abortion clinics and other health care facilities from disposing of fetal remains regardless of the period of gestation. The rules will take effect Dec. 19, according to state health officials, the Texas Tribune reported.
Following criticism from medical providers, the states Health and Human Services Commission clarified that the requirement does not apply to miscarriages or abortions that take place at home. It also does not require birth or death certificates to be filed, to maintain confidentiality.
The health commission has said the rules will result in enhanced protection of the health and safety of the public. Meanwhile, reproductive rights activists say the rules are unnecessary and make it more difficult for a woman to get a safe, legal abortion in the state.
The rules target physicians that provide abortions and the hospitals that care for patients, said Blake Rocap, legislative counsel for advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, the Dallas Morning News reported. Its so transparent that what theyre really trying to do is denying access to abortion. The group rallied outside the Department of State Health Services in late October and delivered more than 5,500 signatures from individuals in opposition to the proposal.
Others in the medical and funeral industries criticized the costs that would be associated with cremating or burying fetal remains a process that can cost hospitals and abortion providers several thousands dollars in each case. But department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said the cost shouldnt be a concern.
Meanwhile, several Republican lawmakers in the state have expressed support for the proposed rule.
For far too long, Texas has allowed the most innocent among us to be thrown out with the daily waste, state Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas) said in a packed public hearing on the proposed rule in August, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Life begins at conception.
Women who attended the hearing in August provided testimonials with mixed responses and personal details. One woman said she felt a great deal of closure burying a fetus after she had a miscarriage. Another said she had an abortion after she was raped, and that if she had been forced to bury the fetus it would have essentially been the state of Texas rubbing my face in my own rape.