Tennessee Senators sent a bill to the governor’s desk Wednesday that would force women who have surgical abortions to decide if the fetal remains should be buried or cremated.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee will have the final say on the matter after Senators approved the bill in a 27-6 vote that fell along party lines. Tennessee House members passed the legislation there in a floor vote Tuesday.
The bill will require clinics that offer surgical abortion to ask patients to decide whether fetal remains should be buried or cremated. The patient does not have to choose but must sign a waiver if they don’t. The decision would then be left to the clinic.
No state funding will be given for the costs of the burial or cremation. The bill’s House sponsor Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro) said the service can range in cost from $150 to $350. The Senate sponsor Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) put the costs from $100-$150.
These costs will be paid by the clinics. However, the mother would have to pay the fee if she chooses a service not offered by the clinic. So, the mother would pay for a burial if the clinic only offers cremation.
The new rules cover only clinics that offer surgical abortion. Bowling said there are only two in the state but did not mention them by name. Hospitals and other facilities follow their own rules. In the case of a miscarriage at home, the treatment of fetal remains is “a personal decision for the family,” Bowling said.
Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashvillle) questioned the narrow scope of the bill. He said the legislation does not ensure the appropriate treatment of all fetal remains in Tennessee. Instead, he said it only creates an obstacle for one group of patients and one category of medical providers.
“I question why we are singling out one group of people for this type of treatment, if our stated concern is our actual stated concern,” Yarbro said.
Francie Hunt, executive director of Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, put it bluntly.
“Make no mistake, this legislation is a direct attack on Planned Parenthood, a trusted health care provider across our state,” Hunt said in a statement after the vote. “The so-called dignity that this bill would provide only extends to fetal remains from clinics, but not from hospitals and not from medication abortions or miscarriages at home.
“This lays bare that this is a targeted regulation of abortion providers and intended to shame patients. We have real health issues in Tennessee, and if politicians don’t want to be part of the solution, they should get out of our way.”
Pushed to answer why the bill would not cover situations and facilities more broadly, Bowling only answered that she’d gladly co-sponsor such legislation in the future.
Republican proponents of the bill said it meets constitutional standards as it does not limit access to abortions. They pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld such a law in Indiana. But those who spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday said the bill was about human life.
“I find it distressful that this will be a vote according to what party you belong to,” said Sen. Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield). “It ought not to be about what party you’re in but it ought to be about your view of life. The callousness toward this issue is heartbreaking.”
However, Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) said the legislation was “cruel.”
“When a family makes the type of decision they’re making here, it’s a difficult one,” Akbari said on the floor Wednesday. “It is one that we have no idea the circumstances that it exists around. Then, to have the additional trauma related to being required to have this type of service is just cruel.”
