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[George Washington]

For fuck's sake people. These sideline tactics to try to get people to feel guilt about their abortions is just nuts. All these conservatives want all these unwanted babies in the world but their wallets slam shut as soon as someone needs assistance raising the unwanted babies.

This. It is a guilt trip for the person having the abortion. Also the cost factor raises a question of who is going to pay. My guess is that they will raise the price of having an abortion (in hopes of reduction) to mitigate the increase in cost for this procedure. In return, that will disproportionately inflict the lower-income segment which could cause self-induced abortions to rise risking the health of the citizens.

Good job Texas, keep it up.

Spoiler

/s

TLDR:
Texas - "Life begins at conception" argument in full-force.

 

[Aytumious]

Wow, I always figured they were cremated. To just dump these potential humans in a landfill does not seem right weather you agree or disagree with abortion.

Would you make the same argument about a miscarriage?

 

[dimb]

Worth noting from the article is a reminder that Mike Pence tried this same thing in Indiana and was blocked by the courts.

Pence has a pretty direct line in for influencing the highest court in America now though.

 

[Mollymauk]

The Republican party has given in to madness.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

Following criticism from medical providers, the state’s Health and Human Services Commission clarified that the requirement does not apply to miscarriages or abortions that take place at home.

At least they're transparent by not enforcing burials for the ones that actually get mourned.

 

[greatgeek]

To make it worse on an emotional level, all burial records in regulated for-profit perpetual care cemeteries in Texas require a first and last name of the deceased. Meaning that the mother will have to name the unwanted fetus.

If women need to name their aborted fetuses, they should name them "Greg Abbott [last name]."

 

[CadetMahoney]

Hilariously stupid law.

All these little things, bit by bit, until abortion is only legal on paper and realistically unobtainable.

 

[R10Neymarfan]

I am sure this is the test run. Once Jan 20th rolls around this will become a national rollout for sure

 

[Lime]

Mona Eltahawy ‏had a really good Twitter thread about this in context of US reproduction rights and the failure of white women: https://twitter.com/monaeltahawy/status/803966374863314945

 

[Shandy]

I love the way they make it sound like aborted material is being thrown out with the kitchen scraps. Just sitting there at the tip next to broken lawn chairs, wrapped in a mass of potato peelings.

And I bet it works.

 

[Drazgul]

A law that literally does not apply to men at all.

Laws affecting only one gender or the other aren't completely unheard of, in the US the selective service system is for men only, for instance - I'm sure someone more familiar with US law could think of other examples.

Doesn't make this any less ridiculous as a law, of coure.

 

[Affeinvasion]

Fun thing to ask someone the next time they tell you life begins at conception: ask them what day they were conceived on. Then ask them why they celebrate their birthday and not their conception day.

 

[Wilsongt]

Wow, I always figured they were cremated. To just dump these potential humans in a landfill does not seem right weather you agree or disagree with abortion.

Erm... A lot of times biomedical waste is often incenerated when it is picked up to be disposed of. So, if fetal remains are part of that, they would be incenerated, anyway.

 

[Macam]

Texas hates when big government steps between patients and their medical decisions, imposes a bunch of red tape, and intrudes on constitutionally protected liberties, so this makes sense.

 

[GiantEnemyGoomba]

what year is it

 

[Randolph Freelander]

Pence has a pretty direct line in for influencing the highest court in America now though.

The current make-up of the Supreme Court, even with a Trump-appointed and Pence-ordained replacement for Scalia, would still almost certainly rule against this law. There's no public health issue being served, and the law is seemingly written such that its intent is obvious -- it's not about human remains, not even about fetal remains (since miscarriages are carved out as an exception), it's about abortions and the courts don't have time for obvious Republican nonsense.

Like, really, Republicans. Far be it from me to tell you how to undermine women's reproductive rights, but the best way to do it is to not even mention anything related to women's reproductive rights. You can't write a law directly connected to abortions and then claim you're not trying to infringe upon said rights. You could write a law, say, requiring all human remains, including pieces of them such as an arm or a leg, to be cremated or buried if that serves a public health interest. What you cannot do and expect to get away with is to require aborted fetuses to be buried, but miscarried fetuses and severed limbs and whatever else are OK to go to the city dump.

 

[Affeinvasion]

what year is it

That depends entirely on when you believe the earth was created.

 

[HStallion]

Just stick a giant furnace on the side of every Planned Parenthood building.

 

[SummitAve]

Fun thing to ask someone the next time they tell you life begins at conception: ask them what day they were conceived on. Then ask them why they celebrate their birthday and not their conception day.

You can believe life starts at conception, and celebrate the date you were birthed.

 

[Affeinvasion]

You can believe life starts at conception, and celebrate the date you were birthed.

This is true. But wouldn't being conceived be more worthy of celebration?

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

well let's go back to back alley abortions, I heard pushing them down the stairs is effective and it'll count as an accident.
Not like the US already have an issue with maternal mortality rate that's unbefitting of a developed country.

 

[Wilsongt]

This is true. But wouldn't being conceived be more worthy of celebration?

That'll be an interesting line to fill out on a form.

Where were you conceived vs where were you born.

"I was conceived in a restroom at Wal-Mart..."

 

[NandoGip]

Invest in crematory and burial services based in TX, because that business is gonna boom.

Edit: Really though, why doesn't someone create a religion that has abortion as a right so that the state can't infringe upon it?

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Wow, I always figured they were cremated. To just dump these potential humans in a landfill does not seem right weather you agree or disagree with abortion.

I don't think that's how it works.

At least in the U.K., the woman is given the choice of what she wants to do with the remains, be it cremation, burial, or "sensitive incineration" which is presumably what most countries do with bio tissues.

Edit: according to a vice article pregnancy remains of less than 20 weeks are treated like other medical tissue, so incineration.

 

[Air]

Yeah, saw this and thought it was fake too. Im not a fan of abortions (not saying anybody is, but I think in an ideal world we would prefer for them not to happen), but this is dumb. Really dumb and what makes it worse is that they're probably not going to be dishing out free contraception to offset the need for abortions.

This is so dumb.

 

[Kurtofan]

does it mean texans have to jerk off in ashtrays now

 

[double jump]

This is some sick and evil shit.

 

[Imperfected]

The most annoying thing about the joke is that we're not even the most conservative state in the Union. There are way worse states to live in.

Well, yes, but those states have no working economy, vast natural resources, logistically convenient geography, or really any logical reason for human beings to exist in them in any actual fashion. LA in particular has been pretty emphatic with its residents about how they ought not to be there.

Texas gets shit on because the state has the money for infrastructure, education, and social welfare but really seems to go out of its way to be shitty about things in spite of it.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

Edit: Really though, why doesn't someone create a religion that has abortion as a right so that the state can't infringe upon it?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Exercise_Clause

 

[JaggedSac]

Sounds like I need to invest in an incinerator in Texas and provide free cremations.

 

[azyless]

Wow I heard about this months ago but thought it was just republicans throwing a fit and that it wouldn't happen. Absolutely disgusting.

 

[SeanC]

Once a month my girlfriend and I hold a funeral and bury her tampons so this seems reasonable.

 

[crackhead_bob]

Is there any potential silver lining to this in terms of blow back? I've always been the eternal optimist when it comes to common sense prevailing on this issue. Can't a woman just simply refuse to go with the cremation/burial service? Can't an abortion clinic simply waive on the cremation and say that they went ahead with it? Short of someone being present to make sure it happens, I can't see how that can be enforce wholesale.

I live in the State of New York. I thus live in confidence that this will never come into effect here because I don't think most voters would go for this type of shit. Texas has a larger population of people, and therefore women. Why is this shit even able to happen in a state that is slated to go blue by 2030? And what potential longterm ramification will there be for the antichoice movement? I could really use some good news at this point.

I've said for years that women should start adopting the tactics of gay activists from the 1980's and own up and embrace where they stand on reproductive rights rather than be defensive about it. Is the constant rollback on abortion rights a case of not enough women standing up for this right, or does the solution lie in drawing in a broader coalition of support among men, younger people, gays, blacks, latinos, etc.?

 

[akidnamededdy]

Why don't republicans give fetuses social security numbers, so they could get benifits?

Probably just cremating them so Democrats can't try to use them as votes.

Your first problem is assuming that women agree on abortion rights.

And lol @ the bolded.

Shhh, shhh...let them dream. Lol

 

[Netherscourge]

...does not apply to miscarriages or abortions that take place at home. It also does not require birth or death certificates to be filed, to maintain confidentiality.

So why the hell are they bothering with this?

This is beyond asinine.

 

[Zoe]

I live in the State of New York. I thus live in confidence that this will never come into effect here because I don't think most voters would go for this type of shit. Texas has a larger population of people, and therefore women. Why is this shit even able to happen in a state that is slated to go blue by 2030? And what potential longterm ramification will there be for the antichoice movement? I could really use some good news at this point.

I've said for years that women should start adopting the tactics of gay activists from the 1980's and own up and embrace where they stand on reproductive rights rather than be defensive about it. Is the constant rollback on abortion rights a case of not enough women standing up for this right, or does the solution lie in drawing in a broader coalition of support among men, younger people, gays, blacks, latinos, etc.?

Your first problem is assuming that women agree on abortion rights.

And lol @ the bolded.

 

[Pickman]

So why the hell are they bothering with this?

This is beyond asinine.

To increase the cost associated with abortions and make them more difficult to obtain. If they can't make it illegal, they'll make it as inconvenient as possible.

 

[mr2xxx]

On the brightside, we don't have to worry about aborted fetuses floating around when coastal cities are underwater. Happy Republicans can stop their anti-regulation rhetoric for something important.

 

[Morts]

Pence tried to do this in Indiana. I didn't understand why Democrats didn't shout it from the rooftops when Trump picked him.

 

[Pickman]

Pence tried to do this in Indiana. I didn't understand why Democrats didn't shout it from the rooftops when Trump picked him.

Because if Texas is anything to go by, it would've gotten him more support.

 

[TheOfficeMut]

Such stupid people on this planet.

 

[robochimp]

I work in a pathology lab for a large hospital system and we receive miscarriage specimens.

Anything over 20 weeks is done as an autopsy and a funeral home will pick up the remains and fulfill the wishes of the parents.

Anything under 20 weeks is a surgical specimen. All fetal specimens are set aside and collected in bulk, picked up by a funeral home and incinerated.

I would imagine it's pretty standard practice amongst hospitals already.

 

[norm9]

I always thought they were incinerated with all other biohazard/medical waste/etc anyways.

Eta- above post answered my queation. Good to know.

 

[see5harp]

What a waste of money.

 

[Jeels]

Think about all the poor women that can't actually afford this type of service...

 

[LCGeek]

Why don't republicans give fetuses social security numbers, so they could get benifits?

Right with ya, so dark

 

[Snagret]

The things we do as a society to shame the most vulnerable members of our population is sickening. These people are criminals.

 

[RageWaffles]

So why the hell are they bothering with this?

This is beyond asinine.

They want to make abortions even more difficult to afford, and they're trying to attach an emotional significance to something that isn't sentimental for most women. And the Republicans are pandering to their base.

(If they hadn't exempted miscarriages, then I'd say it was also about punishing women for having sex.)

 

[Apathy]

Anti abortion people are nuts

 

[jon bones]

Texas won't stop until it has third world-rate maternal maternity rates

They are already on their way:

Texas’ maternal death rates top most industrialized countries

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday.com/story/90115960/?client=safari