Showing posts with label Fetal tissue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fetal tissue. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

7th Circuit: Law on Disposal of Fetal Remains Does Not Violate 1st Amendment

In Doe v. Rokita, (7th Cir., Nov. 28, 2022), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected 1st Amendment challenges to an Indiana statute that requires abortion providers to dispose of fetal remains either by burial or by cremation. The suit was brought both by two women who raise free exercise claims and by two physicians who oppose the requirement that they inform patients of the law's provisions. The court said in part:

[N]either of the two plaintiffs who has had an abortion contends that a third party’s cremation or burial of fetal remains would cause her to violate any religious principle indirectly. What these two plaintiffs contend is that cremation or burial implies a view—the personhood of an unborn fetus—that they do not hold. They maintain that only human beings are cremated or buried. This is questionable. Dogs, cats, and other pets may be cremated or buried, sometimes as a result of legal requirements not to put animals’ bodies in the garbage,,,,. Indiana’s statute about fetal remains therefore need not imply anything about the appropriate characterization of a fetus. At all events, a moral objection to one potential implication of the way medical providers handle fetal remains is some distance from a contention that the state compels any woman to violate her own religious tenets....

As for the requirement that physicians and other providers tell patients about the statutory options: no one contends that the required notice is false or misleading....

The norm that units of government may require physicians (and other professionals) to provide accurate information to their clients long predates Casey and has not been disturbed since...

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Settlement Reached In Suit Over Sale of Fetal Tissue

The Orange County, California District Attorney announced last week that it has obtained a settlement in an unlawful business practice lawsuit against two related companies that violated California and federal law provisions against sale for profit of fetal tissue.  The suit, California v. DV Biologics, LLC, was filed in California state court in October 2016. (Full text of complaint.) It asserts that the companies "obtained aborted fetus donations from Planned Parenthood and turned those donations into a profit-driven business." Under the settlement,  DV Biologics and DaVinci Biosciences will disgorge $7.78 million in profits which they will donate to  a non-profit academic and scientific teaching institution affiliated with a major U.S. medical school.  The companies also will pay civil penalties of $195,000 and will cease doing business in California.  Los Angeles Times reports on the settlement.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Senate Judiciary Chairman Refers Planned Parenthood Groups For Possible Prosecution

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced last week that he is referring several Planned Parenthood affiliates and companies, as well as the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, to the FBI and the Department of Justice for investigation and possible prosecution for conspiracy to violate 42 USC §289g-2, the law that bans buying or selling of human fetal tissue. In a letter (full text) to the Attorney General and Director of the FBI, Grassley indicated he was attaching a lengthy report (full text) from the Committee's Majority Staff.