(Oregon Right to Life) — New York City health department officials this month put forward a suggested rule change that would remove the mandate that unborn babies aborted in the second and third trimester be treated the same as other human remains.
“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,” a July 2 summary from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene states.
The term “conceptus” is used in the document to refer to unborn human beings who, at 24 or more weeks, are almost fully developed.
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A significant percentage of unborn babies at 24 weeks gestation are capable of surviving outside their mothers’ wombs, and the rate is increasing with the advance of neonatal medical care and technology. Per the Mayo Clinic, at 24 weeks gestation unborn babies already have developed limbs, toes, fingers, facial features, and are growing hair and eyebrows. They have also been hiccuping, sucking their thumbs, and actively moving around in the womb. In just the next few weeks, their lungs get stronger and they become capable of recognizing their mothers’ voices.
By 26 weeks, unborn babies have an 80–90% survival rate if born prematurely.
To date, the New York health code has required that the bodies of aborted second and third trimester babies be treated as human remains and be disposed of accordingly: either buried or cremated. According to the health department statement, traditional disposal of the remains of fully developed aborted babies may still be requested; however such actions would no longer be mandatory should the rule change take effect.
Health department chief epidemiologist Gretchen Van Wye argued in a recent board meeting that the requirement that viable aborted babies be buried or cremated was “inequitable” and “costly,” The New York Post reported. “People need to call a funeral director… and pay for a burial or cremation,” she said, adding that the experience is “very traumatic to people.”
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Jeanne Head, a retired registered nurse who previously represented National Right to Life at the United Nations, condemned the suggested rule change as “horrible.”
“They’re treating human beings like trash,” she said, according to The New York Post.
The New York City health department has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, August 15, 2024. Public comments weighing in on the proposal may be submitted until 5:00 p.m. on August 15.
