NATION : Strict Rules on Aborted Fetuses

A state law requiring hospitals and clinics to arrange for the burial or cremation of aborted fetuses instead of flushing them into the sewer system became effective today.

The measure, considered the nation’s strictest, was strongly opposed by medical groups, which contended that it added costs and risks to disposal. Abortion rights advocates charged that it might have a chilling effect on women considering an abortion.

“I think it says that in Minnesota we regard the remains of unborn babies with dignity and not something to be thrown down the sewer system,” said Brian Gibson, director of Pro-Life Action Ministries of the Twin Cities.

Dave Feinwachs, general counsel for the Minnesota Hospital Assn., complained that “storing tissue in barrels of formaldehyde and trucking it around is just plain stupid.”