May 17, 2023

US Supreme Court Upholds Indiana's Law Requiring Humane Treatment of Fetal Remains

A challenge to Indiana's law requiring abortion businesses to bury or cremate the remains of aborted children reached a decision at the US Supreme Court this month.

On May 1, the US Supreme Court ruled that it will not hear the challenge brought by an Indiana abortion business. It upheld a decision by the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that the law did not violate the first amendment rights of abortion businesses.

The 7th Circuit wrote in its decision, “A moral objection to one potential implication of the way medical providers handle fetal remains,” the court’s opinion states, “is some distance from a contention that the state compels any woman to violate her own religious tenets.”

This is the second time the Supreme Court has upheld Indiana's fetal remains law. The court held in 2019 that the state had a legitimate interest in regulating the disposal of fetal remains and the law did not inhibit women from obtaining abortions.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita wrote on Twitter, “The Supreme Court’s ruling will allow our state to treat unborn, innocent babies with the dignity they rightly deserve. My office will continue fighting to protect the right to life while the radical left dismisses this invaluable gift.”