U.S. Supreme Court allows Indiana abortion remains law to stand

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a new challenge to Indiana’s law requiring burial or cremation of fetal remains from abortions.

The court announced its decision Monday morning.

The law, passed in 2016, requires medical providers to dispose of fetal remains through either burial or cremation, or allow the mother to take custody of the remains and dispose of them.

A federal judge in Indianapolis ruled in September 2022 that the law violated religious and free speech rights of those who don’t believe aborted fetuses deserve the same treatment as deceased people.

A federal appeals court reinstated the law in November, citing a 2019 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld Indiana’s law.

The Indiana Supreme Court has yet to issue its ruling on whether Indiana’s new near-total ban on abortion, passed in 2022, is constitutional. The law has been placed on hold by two rulings by lower court judges.