A fight between Planned Parenthood and the state of Ohio over the way abortion remains are disposed of hinges on how the court interprets the word “humane.”
The Ohio attorney general alleged Friday Planned Parenthood clinics are violating an Ohio law requiring “humane” disposal of aborted fetuses, and planned to take legal action Monday. A state investigation had concluded the fetuses were ending up in a dump.
But Planned Parenthood quickly sued Ohio over what it called “politically motivated” allegations, and a federal court barred the AG from filing the planned injunction Monday or taking any legal action for 28 days.
Ohio law requires the fetus “be disposed of in a humane manner.” But the law doesn’t define “humane manner,” leaving its interpretation up for grabs.
The AG found the Bedford Heights, Cincinnati and Columbus clinics sent fetuses to companies that sanitized and then disposed of those fetuses in landfills. AG Mike DeWine called disposal of the fetuses in a landfill “callous and completely inhumane,” and his spokesman Dan Tierney told The Daily Caller News Foundation DeWine believes the fetuses should be cremated or buried.
But Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio defended the practice in a statement announcing the lawsuit, saying the tissue is disposed “respectfully and safely,” in a manner “just like other health care providers handle all sorts of medical material.”
“The false claims are motivated by politics, not by the facts and not by medicine, and are intended to ban abortion in the state,” the statement said, describing the lawsuit’s claims.
The AG investigation was sparked by undercover videos released by The Center for Medical Progress that exposed Planned Parenthood’s dealings in fetal tissue. It did not turn up evidence Ohio clinics are selling aborted fetuses, leading instead to the disposal allegations.
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