The Indiana Department of Environmental Management Tuesday handed down a fine to an Indianapolis company for disposing of fetal remains as medical waste without a permit.
And Indiana Right to Life and some conservative lawmakers say the case shines a light on the need for a current bill that would ban that practice.
Indiana law requires a permit to dispose of fetal remains as medical waste. And the Indianapolis solid waste company did not have that permit and was fined around $11,000.
But Indiana Right to Life officials say the practice shouldn’t be allowed at all. A bill currently moving through the legislature would require all aborted fetuses to be either cremated, interred or both.
Kayevonne Dailey, who had an abortion years ago, says she would be comforted, even now, to know her fetus was properly disposed of.
“Regardless of where we stand on abortion, I’m certain we can all agree that the bodies of aborted babies should not be disposed of with gallbladders, amputated legs and other medical waste,” Dailey says.
But Rep. Linda Lawson (D-Hammond) says the issue isn’t so simple. She says anti-abortion activists are trying to humanize fetal remains in an effort to throw up more roadblocks to legal abortion.
“And it’s going to require a lot of money and it’s going to require a whole new process,” Lawson says.
The House bill is in a Senate committee Wednesday and is widely expected to pass.
