DeWine ends push over Planned Parenthood’s disposal of fetal remains
A month after Mike DeWine’s explosive accusations that Planned Parenthood clinics were improperly disposing of fetal remains in landfills, Ohio’s attorney general has backed down, apparently content to let state lawmakers resolve the issue.
DeWine charged in an emotional Dec. 11 news conference that fetal remains from Planned Parenthood clinics in Columbus and Cincinnati were being illegally “steam-cooked and taken to a Kentucky landfill.” Planned Parenthood officials vehemently denied that their procedures were illegal and accused DeWine of launching a witch hunt after his five-month investigation uncovered no evidence that the agency was selling baby parts.
Since then, DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health have dropped a threat of legal action against Planned Parenthood after the filing of a pre-emptive lawsuit by Planned Parenthood. The lawsuit, intended to block DeWine, has been shelved; a federal judge dropped a temporary restraining order issued against the attorney general before Christmas.
DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said the attorney general accepts statements made in court by Planned Parenthood officials that their clinics “no longer contract with a vendor that autoclaves fetuses.” Autoclaving is the generally accepted term for a high-temperature, steam-pressure sanitizing process commonly used by hospitals for disposal of human tissue and hazardous materials.
Now, clinics in Columbus and Cincinnati and a Cleveland suburb cited by DeWine told The Dispatch, they have switched vendors handling disposal of fetal remains to companies using incineration.
The Dispatch previously found through a public-records request that the Department of Health did not cite a single Planned Parenthood clinic or any other current abortion provider for improper disposal of fetal remains in five years. There is no evidence that the requirement cited by DeWine for “humane” disposal of aborted fetuses was enforced by the state in 49 inspection reports.
Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Jocelyn Smallwood would not identify the new vendors for security reasons, but she said they use the same process used by many hospitals.
“There is and there was no wrongdoing. We are back where we were before,” she said. “This makes it even more obvious the intent of his actions weren’t about finding real issues. The motivation was political. It’s another brick in the wall by people trying to build between women and health care.”
Several Republican state lawmakers have proposed legislation to require abortion clinics to cremate or bury aborted fetuses. Another bill would require women who have an abortion to designate the disposal method of fetal remains. If the law is not followed, the provider, but not the woman, could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail.
Tierney said the attorney general is “very pleased that the General Assembly intends to establish clear standards which ensure that the gruesome practice does not continue in Ohio.” DeWine is willing to wait to see what lawmakers do, he said.
There were 21,186 abortions in the state in 2014, the lowest number since 1976, according to Ohio Department of Health records. Ohio has nine abortion clinics, including the three operated by Planned Parenthood.
Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, supported DeWine’s initial comments as well as the proposed GOP legislation. He said Ohio Right to Life is concerned about the “oversight of abortion clinics in Ohio” as well as disposal methods.
“Ohioans expect the Health Department to appropriately regulate these clinics to ensure women are not put at risk.”
