A group of abortion clinics represented by a women’s rights group are suing Texas over its new requirements for aborted fetuses to be buried or cremated.
The Center for Reproductive Rights announced Monday it is filing a lawsuit over the rules, which were finalized last month by the state’s Department of State Health Services and go into effect Dec. 19. The group is demanding the state halt implementation of the rules immediately, saying they will increase costs to abortion providers and augment stigma for women obtaining the procedure.
The lawsuit is on behalf of several Texas abortion providers, including Whole Women’s Health, a clinic that last summer won a Supreme Court case knocking down requirements for abortion doctors to get hospital admitting privileges and for clinics to meet stricter facility standards.
“These regulations are an insult to Texas women, the rule of law and the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared less than six months ago that medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion access are unconstitutional,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Brookside Women’s Health Center, Austin Women’s Health Center, Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services and Dr. Lendol Davis are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The Texas Medical Association and the Texas Hospital Association have both expressed concerns about the rules. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services has said it took about 35,000 public comments into consideration as it finalized the regulations, and held two public hearings on the matter.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is also suing over similar rules in Louisiana. Vice President-elect Mike Pence signed a fetal burial requirement into law as Indiana governor, but it has been suspended by a federal judge.
