The New York City Department of Health plans to reverse a regulation that requires babies aborted at or after 24 weeks to be treated as “human remains” and sent to funeral homes for burial or cremation. “This is inequitable. It’s costly,” the health department’s chief epidemiologist Gretchen Van Wye said during a recent board meeting, according to the New York Post. “People […]
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The New York City Department of Health plans to reverse a regulation that requires babies aborted at or after 24 weeks to be treated as “human remains” and sent to funeral homes for burial or cremation.
“This is inequitable. It’s costly,” the health department’s chief epidemiologist Gretchen Van Wye said during a recent board meeting, according to the New York Post. “People need to call a funeral director … and pay for a burial or cremation.”
“It’s very traumatic to people,” Van Wye added. “This is a matter we don’t think the government needs to be involved in. This is something for the patient and provider to talk about.”
The Board of Health unanimously approved the proposed rule change, the Post reported.
“This is about an individual’s medical decision and removing a burdensome and costly requirement from the health code,” said department spokesman Patrick Gallahue. “How someone decides to proceed after making such a personal medical decision should not be dictated by the government.”
Dr. Erinma Ukoha, an activist physician with Physicians for Reproductive Health, said the board’s decision “to remove the burdensome, inequitable disposition requirement for people accessing later abortion care is an important step in the right direction,”
But pro-life activists argue the proposed rule to end required burial for babies aborted past the stage at which many are viable is another sign of devaluing human life.
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“This is horrible,” said Jeanne Head, a retired registered nurse who has served as the National Right to Life Committee’s representative to the United Nations, in comments to the Post. “They’re treating human beings like trash.”
According to the health department’s notice, a public hearing on the proposed amendment to the health code will be held on August 15 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET via video conference. Written comments may be submitted at or before 5:00 p.m. on August 15.
New York City’s health department states the basis and purpose of its proposed rule:
The Department is proposing to amend the Health Code Articles 203 and 205 to eliminate the requirement that any conceptus that has completed 24 or more weeks of gestation be disposed of as human remains. Disposition as human remains would remain available upon request by those who desire burial or cremation and a process for this is included in the amendments as well. Also included in the proposed amendments is a provision to allow certification of induced terminations of pregnancy by designees and changes to terminology to make the rules gender neutral.
The health department provides the language for the proposed regulations, with the deletions in brackets of the current rules. Notably, the proposed rule states funeral services may be “requested,” rather than being required, and that the word “woman” is deleted and replaced with the term “pregnant person”:
In circumstances where the issuance of a disposition permit pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code Article 205 is [required or] requested and a person required to report a termination of pregnancy pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section [does] has not [file] filed a report thereof electronically, the requirement of filing a certificate and confidential medical report, if any, required by this section may be fulfilled by delivery of the same immediately upon demand and within the time prescribed by subdivision (c) of this section to a funeral director or undertaker authorized to take charge of the conceptus or to the person in charge of the City mortuary if the remains are to be buried in the City cemetery. Such funeral director, undertaker or person in charge of the City mortuary, or an agent of such funeral director or undertaker registered with the Department pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code Article 205 or a designee of the person in charge of the mortuary, shall then file the certificate within 48 hours following the receipt of the certificate of termination of pregnancy. Funeral directors, undertakers, City mortuary personnel, and their agents or designees, shall not divulge information in the confidential documents except to authorized personnel of the Department.
…
Preparation. Any certificate or confidential medical report required by this Article shall be prepared by the same person required to file the same pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code § 203.03 but when a termination of pregnancy occurs in a hospital or en route thereto, the certificate and confidential medical report, if any, shall be prepared by a licensed health care practitioner in attendance, assisting or present at or after the event, by the chief medical officer of the hospital, by the physician in charge of the service on which the [woman] pregnant person was treated, or by a designee of the person in charge of the hospital who is trained or approved by the Department.
…
Disposal of Conceptus.
[Every] Upon request a conceptus [that has completed 24 or more weeks of gestation shall] may be disposed of in a manner provided for human remains generally and in accordance with a disposition permit issued pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code Article 205. [When, however, a conceptus has not completed 24 weeks of gestation, it may be disposed of in accordance with a disposition permit issued pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code Article 205, upon request.]
Head said the new rule amounts to promoting “infanticide.”
“They don’t want mothers to know they killed their baby,” the pro-life leader said.
LifeNews Note: Susan Berry writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
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