A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked new Texas requirements for aborted infants to be buried or cremated.
Several abortion clinics sued to permanently block the rules, which the state finalized last month. They require fetal tissue to be interred through burial, entombment or cremation and ban it from being put in a sanitary landfill, where medical providers typically dispose of fetal material.
A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has scheduled a preliminary injuction hearing on Jan. 3 and 4.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the abortion clinics in the lawsuit, said it is pleased at the temporary hold.
“We look forward to demonstrating that these regulations are unwise, unjustified and unconstitutional, and should be permanently struck down,” said the organization’s staff attorney, David Brown.
