WASHINGTON — Republican Indiana Rep. Jim Banks introduced legislation Wednesday banning the disposal of fetal remains in public waterways.
“Tossing unborn remains in to our water systems is barbaric, and if the American public knew about it they would be disgusted and horrified,” Banks said in a statement.
“This brutal reality is made possible by even more brutal abortion laws,” he added. “If Congressional Democrats get their way and legalize abortion till the moment of birth, nationwide, this far too common practice would become even more widespread.”
The Dignity for Fetal Remains Act of 2022 would ban abortion providers from placing fetal remains, embryos, or medical waste associated with abortions (like surgical equipment) into any kind of device that connects to a public waterway (such as a toilet, sink, or disposal).
The Daily Wire first obtained the legislation, which Banks called “commonsense,” saying it would “restore a small piece of dignity to the victims of abortion.”
“For many years we have documented reports from across the country about the atrocious ways abortionists dispose of the bodies of unborn babies,” Cathie Humbarger, the founder of Reprotection, Inc., told The Daily Wire on Wednesday. “I am grateful to Congressman Banks for filing legislation today that will stop these practices.”
“We grieve the loss of these children and the emotional and physical trauma their mothers often experience after their abortion,” she continued. “Until we can prevent these deaths, we must treat their bodies with respect just as we do the deceased bodies of every other human.”
In a press release announcing the Dignity for Fetal Remains Act, Banks’ office cited the pro-life organization Live Action’s report that abortion providers were recorded admitting that “many” of the Detroit, Michigan, area abortion facilities frequently flushed baby body parts into garbage disposals or out into the sewer system.
According to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, violations of fetal disposition laws have been uncovered in a slew of states, including Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
These violations include failures to disinfect containers, sending baby body parts down sanitary sewers, disposing fetal remains in a solid waste landfill, or storing them in refrigerators.
“Due to the variability and archaic status of some state laws,” a Lozier Institute report says, “numerous fetal disposition methods have been employed as legal solutions by abortion facilities and waste disposal companies, including: flushing fetal body parts through the garbage disposal leading into the sewer system; dumping fetal remains into an auger along with medical waste and grinding them together; and having the fetal remains transported across state lines to another state’s dumpsters.”
“Stericycle, the largest known waste disposal company willing to transport and dispose of the remains of human fetal parts after abortion, has been found by at least two state departments to be in violation of state regulations specifically governing fetal disposition,” the report adds.
Source: Dailywire
