COLUMBUS- Yesterday, the members of the Ohio Senate debated and voted on legislation, Senate Bill 27, introduced by Senator Joe Uecker of Miami Township in Clermont County, which would ensure the humane and dignified disposition of the remains of children aborted in Ohio.  The measure was passed and sent to the Ohio House of Representatives on a vote of 24-7.

 

Uecker's bill, supported strongly by the Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio (RTLACO), would require abortion providers to inform women prior to the performance of an abortion of their choice of picking whether to have the body of the aborted child buried or cremated by a licensed funerary or crematorium. Documentation to allow the transfer of the remains to a funeral home or crematoria is required for each set of remains, and a copy of such documentation to be submitted to the Ohio Department of Health.

 

"The sheer volume of fetal remains from abortion facilities in any given year is tens of thousands" stated Margie Christie, President of RTLACO and Executive Director of Dayton Right to Life, "Under current law, the remains of these thousands of children could end up in our area landfills and/or trash.  The passage of this bill ensures that Ohio properly disposes of fetal remains in a manner standard to burial customs and safeguards of our public health and safety."

 

The measure was begun as a result of an investigation in 2015 undertaken by the Charitable Law section of then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office on whether or not Ohio's Planned Parenthood abortion facilities were involved in potentially improper or illegal disposition of fetal remains.

 

In a summary of the investigation report, the Attorney General noted: "It became readily apparent following the receipt of the Planned Parenthood responses that there was no means by which the team could account for the fetuses comprising those totals...the investigation would have undoubtedly benefited from a legal requirement mandating that providers of abortion services document the disposition of each and every fetus taken as a result of an abortion procedure. Absent such a requirement, the team was unable to conclude with certainty that no Planned Parenthood organization engages in transaction of fetuses or fetal tissue." Senate Bill 27 responds to this lack of specificity in Ohio law and would provide verifiable accounting for the disposition of the remains of unborn children terminated through abortion.

 

"Although we work for a day when no unborn child in Ohio is killed by abortion, we recognize that at the very least accurate accounting for those precious bodies, and for their humane disposition, is necessary" noted Meg Wittman, Executive Director, Cincinnati Right to Life, "We fully support Senator Uecker's effort, and are pleased to see the Senate move to adopt this. We now look to the House to finalize this necessary update to Ohio law."