New York City told dignified burials for aborted babies ‘traumatic’

New York City is under pressure to abandon requirements for aborted babies over 24 weeks’ gestation to be buried or cremated.

The City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is proposing that the New York City Board of Health make it optional to dispose of any unborn child with the dignity afforded to “human remains”. Previously, it was mandatory for babies over 24 weeks gestation and could be requested for children before that age.

In New York, abortions are available for any reason up to 24 weeks and up to birth if the mother’s mental health is deemed to be at risk.

‘Trash’

Health officials claim that women who have abortions should not be forced to pay for the deceased baby’s funeral expenses.

Gretchen Van Wye of New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene argued that it is “costly” and “very traumatic to people”.

But retired nurse Jeanne Head, who has previously been National Right to Life Committee’s representative to the United Nations, called the plans “horrible”.

She stated: “They’re treating human beings like trash.”

‘Human dignity’

In light of a public hearing on the proposals, several people criticised the plans for undermining human dignity.

One commenter said: “These bodies must go somewhere. Will they be thrown into dumpsters and landfills? Will they be burned for energy? Will they be used as fertilizer after becoming compost?

“Where will the bodies go? Because these bodies must go somewhere, the proposed amendment should be rejected.”

“When dignity is stolen from the least amongst us, it hurts us all. This proposed amendment is an act of destruction toward human dignity and should be soundly rejected.”

‘Embryos are children’

Earlier this year, Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, and that anyone who destroys one could be held legally accountable.

The judgment was in relation to a case brought by three couples whose embryos were accidentally destroyed at a fertility clinic. Their original claim had been dismissed by a lower court, which said the law only applied to foetuses inside the womb, not embryos outside of it.

But the state’s top court overturned that ruling, explaining: “Unborn children are ‘children’ under the Act, without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics.”