British Hospital Under Fire for Burning Aborted Babies in Trash Furnace 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 23, 2006
Cambridge, England (LifeNews.com) — A British hospital is coming under fire for burning the bodies of babies killed in abortions in the furnace used to incinerate trash the hospital produces. Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge has admitted using the hospital’s incinerator to burn the bodies and says its because it can’t afford the fees charged by a local crematorium.
An unnamed woman who had an abortion there learned about the hospital’s policy and said she was appalled after finding out how Addenbrooke disposed of her baby’s body.
The hospital told her it had a policy of "sensitive disposal" and said it did not burn bodies of babies from abortions at the same time as it incinerated trash.
"I am furious and very hurt," the woman told the Cambridge Evening News. "Imagine my horror when I discovered that my baby was incinerated in the same furnace as the hospital rubbish."
"Why should people like me and my partner suffer more because of this dreadful policy?" she asked.
Pro-life advocates interviewed by the Cambridge newspaper were shocked to learn what is taking place at the hospital.
"The fact they are now disposing of human remains like they would any other waste product shows what society and this hospital has come to," Michaela Aston, spokesman for pro-life charity Life, said.
"It is just so disgusting. What has happened to the dignity of the human being? It reflects increasingly certain people in society’s attitudes to the unborn child just flushing them away, or burning them like any other waste," Aston told the newspaper.
"Hospitals are supposed to be healing places and places to bring life into the world, not places to get rid of it," she said.
The newspaper reported that an Addenbrooke spokeswoman told it that Cambridge Crematorium used to cremate the bodies of babies killing in abortions at no cost but said it now charges more than $20 for each baby’s body.
The spokeswoman told the newspaper that the incineration follows all laws and guidelines.
The hospital will tell women who have abortions about the disposal process.
"Patients undergoing termination of unwanted pregnancy are informed that disposal will be within the hospital," the spokeswoman said. "If patients request additional information, they are put in touch with a member of the bereavement team who meets the patient and discusses in detail the arrangements."
Dr. Anthony Russell, Bishop of Ely, told the newspaper that the hospital should work with religious groups to find a more humane way of treating the babies after abortions.
"I am sorry to know this is the practice currently being adopted by the hospital. I recognize there is a wide range of responses to this issue, but believe the disposal of fetuses should be undertaken reverently and with dignity," he said.
