As an addition to the two current diaries on the Indiana abortion-burial law just upheld by the Supremes, I am providing the community with a copy of the relevant portion of the law.
Please note that the law imposes emotional burdens and shaming opportunities on the woman, as well as additional costs on the provider.
For example, the woman has to sit and listen to the “options” she has for disposition of the fetus. She then has to tell the provider how she chooses to dispose of the fetus. I am assuming she will also be asked if she wants to give the abortion products a name for the blank on the burial transit form.
The clinic or provider will also have to conform to the state’s burial transit permit requirements, and obtain the necessary permit from the “local health officer.” One infers that this will make the process more costly, even if clinics are allowed to do mass cremation in the local medical waste incinerator.
To those inclined to find this law “no big deal,” try to imagine a young woman in tears because she is confused and agonizing over whether staying her life’s course is adequate justification for taking away the possibility of life for the clump of cells inside her.
Imagine someone in the doctor’s office adding to that grief and emotional agonizing by treating the abortion products as something requiring the dignity of a name and burial.
None of this is done out of kindness or concern for the woman. It is all done merely to punish her.
And it will. It will punish many already traumatized young women who just want a chance to have the life they planned on, and the opportunities they dreamed of, like the young man who contributed the sperm.
The law:
Sec. 5. (a) Not more than twenty-four (24) hours after a woman has her miscarried fetus expelled or extracted in a health care facility, the health care facility shall:
(1) disclose to the parent or parents of the miscarried fetus, both orally and in writing, the parent's right to determine the final disposition of the remains of the miscarried fetus;
(2) provide the parent or parents of the miscarried fetus with written information concerning the available options for disposition of the miscarried fetus under section 6 of this chapter and IC 16-41-16-7.6; and
(3) inform the parent or parents of the miscarried fetus of counseling that may be available concerning the death of the miscarried fetus.
(b) The parent or parents of a miscarried fetus shall inform the health care facility of the parent's decision for final disposition of the miscarried fetus after receiving the information required in subsection (a) but before the parent of the miscarried fetus is discharged from the health care facility. The health care facility shall document the parent's decision in the medical record.
Sec. 6. (a) If the parent or parents choose a means of location of final disposition other than the means location of final disposition that is usual and customary for the health care facility, the parent or parents are responsible for the costs related to the final disposition of the fetus at the chosen location.
(b) A health care facility having possession of a miscarried fetus shall provide for the final disposition of the miscarried fetus. The burial transit permit requirements under IC 16-37-3 apply to the final disposition of the miscarried fetus, which must be cremated or interred. However:
(1) a person is not required to designate a name for the miscarried fetus on the burial transit permit and the space for a name may remain blank; and
(2) any information submitted under this section that may be used to identify the parent or parents is confidential and must be redacted from any public records maintained under IC 16-37-3.
Miscarried fetuses may be cremated by simultaneous cremation.
(c) The local health officer shall provide the person in charge of interment with a permit for the disposition of the body. A certificate of stillbirth is not required to be issued for a final disposition of a miscarried fetus having a gestational age of less than twenty (20) weeks.
(d) IC 23-14-31-26, IC 23-14-55-2, IC 25-15-9-18, and IC 29-2-19-17 concerning the authorization of disposition of human remains apply to this section.