World News – USA – Ohio House passes bill requiring fetal abortion to be buried or cremated

The Ohio House of Representatives has passed bill requiring fetal remains from surgical abortions to be cremated or buried. After the Senate approved the changes made by Parliament, Gov. . Mike DeWine is expected to sign it.

The American Civil Liberties Union spoke out against the law, saying it would re-charge abortion providers and their patients.

The measure will « impose requirements on the definitive disposal of fetal remains from surgical abortions, » as the title indicates. Women who choose to have an abortion would have to decide in writing how the remains should be handled. When a patient chooses not to choose, the job falls to the abortion provider.

Critics note that the bill creates new expenses. The medical facility would have to pay for a cremation or funeral unless the patient makes arrangements with third parties for whom she is paying.

The bill is « nothing more than legislative harassment, » said Ohio ACLU lobbyist Gary Daniels in his testimony against the bill. He noted that the legislation would not apply to embryos discarded by fertility clinics or to fetal remains from medical abortions, miscarriages, or stillbirths.

The Ohio ACLU is rejecting the bill « because it has no legitimate medical purpose, » Daniels said, « and is an overt attempt to harass patients, shut down abortion providers, and incarcerate doctors for violating numerous nonsensical regulations found in this invoice. « 

Ohio Right to Life, an anti-abortion rights group that claims to have led the law with its original sponsor, welcomed the law’s approval and said it was a matter of common sense.

« Human decency requires that we treat every member of our human family with respect, which is now accorded to the innocent unborn in death, » said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, in a statement.

Other states have passed similar laws in recent years. A 2016 Texas law went even further, requiring fetal tissue from abortions, miscarriages, or ectopic pregnancy operations to be disposed of through burial or cremation. A federal judge blocked this law in 2018.

Last year the U. . S.. . The Supreme Court upheld Indiana law – supposedly a model for Ohio law – that limited its requirements to aborted fetuses and omitted miscarriages. When issuing that ruling, the Supreme Court justices also left the door open to « a possible future challenge to the funeral and cremation provisions of the law for various reasons, » NPR reported.

The Ohio Senate approved the bill in March 2019; The House of Representatives approved an amended version of the measure on Thursday.

« Gov. . Mike DeWine is expected to sign the bill as soon as the Ohio Senate approves the amendments made by Parliament, « reported NPR member station WOSU. « As attorney general, DeWine investigated the way fetal abortion remains were handled following complaints from abortion opponents, although his investigation did not result in any charges or health citations against abortion providers. « 

The House approved the measure with 60-36 votes. The Senate voted for it around the clock. Each Republican voted, along with a Democrat, the state Senator, to pass the bill. Sean O’Brien.

The bill’s main sponsor was the state senator. Joe Uecker, R-Loveland, who stepped down from legislature last year to accept a new position with the Ohio Department of Transportation. Dozens of co-sponsors supported the measure together with Uecker.

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