A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked Ohio officials from taking legal action against Planned Parenthood to enforce fetal tissue disposal rules, and Republican state lawmakers proposed new regulations for such disposal.
The actions at the Ohio Statehouse and Columbus federal court comes after state Attorney General Mike DeWine’s investigation into Planned Parenthood facilities.
DeWine’s office found no evidence that Planned Parenthood made money from aborted fetuses, but his report released Friday instead criticized its facilities for disposing of fetal remains in landfills. He accused the organization of violating a state rule requiring that fetal tissue be disposed of in a “humane manner.”
Planned Parenthood calls the report “inflammatory.” The group says its three facilities that provide abortions follow Ohio law and use the same practices as hospitals and other providers, which generally contract with companies to dispose of medical waste.
DeWine had planned to file an injunction in state court to prevent Planned Parenthood from disposing of fetal remains as its affiliates have done. But a federal lawsuit filed Sunday by Planned Parenthood complicated his plan.
Planned Parenthood sued the state’s health director, accusing him of changing the interpretation of the disposal rule. In its lawsuit, Planned Parenthood said it’s never been cited by the Ohio Department of Health, which licenses abortion facilities in Ohio, for violating the disposal regulations.
A health department spokeswoman says the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. issued a temporary restraining order in the case on Monday, effectively blocking any state legal action until Jan. 11. He set a Jan. 4 hearing in the dispute.
Republican state lawmakers said they plan to introduce legislation that would require Ohio hospitals, abortion clinics and other providers to dispose of fetal remains by burial or cremation.
State Rep. Barbara Sears, a Republican from suburban Toledo, said the bill she’s co-sponsoring is not restricting a woman’s choice to get an abortion. “What we’re doing is saying there needs to be a respectful way once that’s occurred,” Sears told reporters at a Monday news conference.
A separate proposal, which had been in the works before the report, would allow women who get abortions to decide in writing whether their fetuses’ remains should be buried or cremated. The clinic must document the decision.
The head of the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio said the bills were intended to “shame women” who get abortions.
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