Lawsuit challenges new Texas rules over fetal remains

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to prevent Texas from requiring hospitals and abortion clinics to bury or cremate fetal remains rather than disposing of them in a sanitary landfill, as they most often currently do with such remains and other biological medical waste.

The lawsuit filed in a federal court in Austin by the Center for Reproductive Rights and other groups contends that the rules set to take effect next Monday serve no medical purpose and are meant to shame women who seek abortions and make it harder for doctors to provide them.

"Texas has failed to provide any credible evidence of what health benefit this might serve because there aren't any," Nancy Northup, the Center for Reproductive Right's president, said on a conference call.

In response to the more than 35,000 public comments it received about the proposed rule changes, the health department wrote it "believes the methods allowed by the rules will protect the public by preventing the spread of disease while also preserving the dignity of the unborn in a manner consistent with Texas laws."