Opinion: A Law That Can Cost an Arm and a Leg?

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How often do you read a story about a piece of legislation and think, ‘’More! Tell me more!’’

My colleague Patrick McGreevy’s story had me panting for seconds. It was a wrap-up of some legislative actions in Sacramento, and a ways into the story, he wrote, ‘’The Senate approved a measure by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma [D-San Francisco] that would require public exhibits that display plasticized human bodies to get permission from the next of kin.’’

Hold your pretty horses -- it doesn’t mean that women who’ve had plastic surgery can’t go parading it all over town.

As far as I can tell, there have been in recent years actual sideshow-like national touring exhibitions of plastic-treated human parts, everything from nearly whole cadavers to body bits. Some were donated, some, as exhibitors said, were ‘’unclaimed.’’

I tried to find out more by calling up the history of the bill. As so often happens, AB 1519 started out as something else -- an act about the Harbors and Navigation Code -- and then all of that got, um, eviscerated, and the provisions adding to the Health and Safety Code as regards human remains were stuck in under the same bill number.

California governance is already a gift to late-night comics and this may be no exception. But the best, the very best part of all, was the reason that came from Lancaster Republican George Runner for his sturdy opposition to the bil. As he put it, ‘’This is a disservice to the citizens of California who now have to go to another state to see this kind of display.’’

First it was runaway movie production that was hurting Californians. Now it’s runaway plasticized cadaver gawking. Dear Lord, is there no end to it?