Indiana Legislature Passes Bill That Would Have Stopped Abortionist From Hoarding Aborted Babies

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Mar 12, 2020   |   12:26PM   |   Indianapolis, Indiana

The Indiana legislature approved a bill this week to prevent abortionists from hoarding aborted babies’ bodies in the wake of gruesome discoveries inside a former Indiana abortionist’s garage last fall.

State Senate Bill 299 is on its way to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk after both the House and Senate approved final changes to it, according to Indiana Public Media.

The bill requires abortion facilities to inform women who plan to take abortion drugs that their baby’s body will be expelled and they have the right to return their baby’s body to the abortion facility for burial or cremation. It also holds abortion facilities accountable for the proper disposition of aborted babies by increasing documentation and reporting requirements.

“The burden will be on the abortion clinic or the abortion provider, not the woman,” said state Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne. “There’s been a lot of misinformation about this bill.”

The need for such legislation became apparent last fall after investigators discovered the bodies of 2,411 aborted babies stored in an Indiana abortionist’s garage. The abortionist, Ulrich Klopfer, died in September, and his family found the baby’s remains soon afterward. No one knows why he kept them.

Indiana law does require abortion facilities to bury or cremate the remains of aborted babies, but the law only took effect in 2019 after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it.

The bill that passed this week will strengthen the current state law by ensuring women are fully informed before going through with the abortion and aborted babies are properly handled.

Indiana Right to Life praised the legislation as a critical step in underscoring the humanity of each aborted baby while detailing what abortion facilities must tell women about their baby’s final disposition.

“We will continue working for a day when no child is aborted in Indiana. Until that day comes, this bill will make sure these children are never again treated like common medical waste in our state,” Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter said.

The legislation require abortion facilities to keep a record log for each aborted baby. According to Indiana Right to Life, the log must include the abortion type, date of the abortion and information about the baby’s disposition. The bill also requires abortion facilities that have contracts with crematoriums or funeral homes to make them available to the state for review.

“In addition, any entity receiving aborted babies for interment or cremation must confirm that the total number of aborted babies match the information contained in the burial transit and accompanying log. This section in particular will help prevent any Klopfer-like situations from ever happening again in Indiana,” the pro-life organization explained.

In September, authorities found 2,246 medically preserved remains of aborted babies stored in boxes in the former Indiana abortionist’s garage in Illinois. A few weeks later, they found 165 more babies’ remains in a vehicle stored on one of his properties. Klopfer’s family reported finding the remains shortly after he died Sept. 3. Indiana and Illinois authorities have been working together to investigate the gruesome discovery.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill’s office announced earlier this year that poor record-keeping and the disintegration of the babies’ bodies made it impossible for each baby to be identified.

Hill’s office and pro-life advocates organized a burial for the babies in February.

Last year, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun introduced the Dignity for Aborted Children Act to extend the cremation/burial requirement to all 50 states.