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After a recent abortion overruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, the state of Texas has now created a new rule, requiring that abortion clinics bury the remains of the aborted fetuses. In addition to the cost of the abortion, the woman undergoing the abortion will also be responsible for covering the costs associated with the burial of the fetal remains.
The governor of Texas has stated that by implementing this new legislation, they are “giving a voice to the unborn.” However, critics believe that this is not a public health concern, but rather a cruel attempt to restrict women from having abortions. The timing of this new rule is a little too convenient to many people, as the state of Texas had just lost their fight to ban abortion. Forcing a woman to not only pay for the abortion, but also the burial costs of the procedure seems to be a form of shaming these women for having an abortion. These regulations were not put into place to solve any rising public health or cleanliness issues, and it poses no benefit to the woman receiving the abortion. This is another attempt to persuade a woman to think first before having an abortion, or sway them from having one at all.
Furthermore, requiring the woman to cover the costs of the burial is even more unconstitutional, according to opponents of the new legislation. Planned Parenthood reports that an abortion can cost anywhere from $300 to $950. Adding cremation and burial costs to that, will mean that women seeking to have an abortion will be spending anywhere from $1500 to $4000. This poses a huge problem because many of the women who seek out abortion clinics are low income individuals who oftentimes have trouble affording an abortion in the first place. Of these low income individuals, a majority are women of color. Knowing that these costs will significantly add up, critics believe that this is a strategic move by the state of Texas to end abortion. The question remains, is this a real attempt to protect the rights and dignity of the unborn fetuses, or is this just another underhanded attempt to take away the personal and constitutional rights of a woman to choose?
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