AUSTIN, Texas _ Health providers and abortion clinics have less than two weeks to figure out how to comply with Texas' new fetal remains rules _ that is, if a lawsuit doesn't halt the process first.
Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder of abortion provider Whole Woman's Health, said she is working with the Center for Reproductive Rights on a potential lawsuit opposing the rules. Any lawsuit would need to be filed by next week because the rules are set to take effect Dec. 19.
"Here we are, with a situation where Texas is trying to restrict access to safe abortion care by any means necessary," she said. "It's really cruel."
The rules have drawn controversy since their introduction in July. Days after the Supreme Court struck down parts of a law that would have restricted abortion access in Texas, the state introduced rules that require health care facilities to bury or cremate fetal remains, regardless of the period of gestation.
The Texas Department of State Health Services' rules, which were suggested under the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott, were finalized after two public comment periods in which the state received more than 35,000 comments. The comments were nearly split between groups for and against the rules.
Abbott said the rules are meant to uphold the dignity of the unborn fetus instead of treating it as medical waste. Opponents claim the rules attempt to attribute "personhood" to a fetus and could be a deterrent, or limit access, for women seeking an abortion.
The state says the rules will help prevent health risk and won't restrict access to abortion. Officials wrote in September that the health department has the authority to make rules to protect the public from the spread of communicable disease.
Health care entities haven't said how they will comply. Hagstrom Miller, one of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court abortion case, said that she is still working on a path to compliance but that Whole Woman's Health is first trying to determine what the rules would entail.
"The regulations as written are very confusing," she said. "We're trying to figure out exactly what the law requires."
