A federal judge has blocked a Texas law from going into effect that would force clinics to bury or cremate fetal remains after an abortion.
The permanent injunction was issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge David Ezra in Austin, Texas. In his decision, Ezra said that the law placed a “substantial obstacle” in the way of women who seek abortions.
“The evidence in this case overwhelmingly demonstrated that if the challenged laws were to go into effect now, they would likely cause a near catastrophic failure of the healthcare system designed to serve women of childbearing age within the state of Texas,” Ezra wrote in the decision. The law required every healthcare facility in the state to provide a death certificate and proper burial for any fetal tissue.
Abortion providers who brought the suit against the Texas law said that it imposed beliefs on women by requiring a burial or cremation, and that it would cause closures among clinics that are unable to comply. The new law directed the state to keep a list of facilities that would have provided a cremation or burial at a low cost, and any facility that failed to comply would lose its license or pay a fine.
The law previously allowed for fetal remains to be discarded in the same way as other medical waste, including through the sewage system or landfill. It does not apply to miscarriages or to women who take the abortion pill early in a pregnancy, which involves inducing a miscarriage after leaving a clinic and typically happens at home.
After the ruling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state would appeal the case. The law, he said, was intended to “honor the dignity of the unborn and prevents fetal remains from being treated as medical waste” and would not impact abortion in the state.
“My office will continue to fight to uphold the law, which requires the dignified treatment of fetal remains, rather than allow healthcare facilities to dispose of the remains in sewers or landfills,” he said in a statement.
