Rep. Byron Cook
[House Bill 35] would create a registry of organizations that can help pay for burial or cremation of fetal remains. That way, the cost associated with burials would not fall on women, [bill author Rep. Byron] Cook said.
The measure would not apply to miscarriages that happen at home.
“Let me be clear: this bill has nothing to do with abortion procedures whatsoever. It has everything to do with ensuring the dignity of the deceased,” Cook said Wednesday. “We believe Texas can do better than this.”
Cook said he’s opposed to a current method of disposal that allows for grinding up fetuses and disposing of them in sanitary landfills.
“What we’re doing is removing a very objectionable method of disposal. The good news is I haven’t talked to anyone who thinks grinding would be an acceptable method [of disposal],” Cook said. “We’re just really taking off the books something that should be objectionable to everybody.”
However, Cook was challenged during the hearing by state Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, who said the Republican should revise his bill to outlaw the disposal methods he doesn’t like without mandating burial.
“I think if you want to delete that language, you can delete that language without creating a burial requirement,” Farrar said. “I think we can find a way that is, in some people’s minds, more humane without creating burdens for women.”
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Wednesday’s hearing comes weeks after U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks ruled Texas cannot require health providers to bury or cremate fetuses.
Sparks wrote in January that a fetal remains burial rule the Texas Department of State Health Services planned to implement was vague and had the potential for irreparable harm.
Yes, that would be the main sticking point, I presume. I also presume that it would be possible to write a bill to address this never-considered-a-problem-before-HB2-was-struck-down issue in a way that complies with Judge Sparks’ order. I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t say if this bill might do that, but I do know that the lawyers who represent the clinics that would be affected by this law, as they would have been affected by the State Health Services rule that Judge Sparks blocked, will be able to say. And to do, if it comes to that.