Standing on the position that all human beings -- even the unborn -- have value, Texas Catholic cemeteries are working on plans to provide free burials for aborted and miscarried babies.
"To bury the dead is a work of mercy," said Jennifer Carr Allmon, the executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference in a statement this week.
"We must treat the remains of all human beings, no matter how long they lived or how they died with dignity, charity, and respect," she added.
She noted that many archdioceses in the state have provided similar services for years, as well as hospitals and funeral homes.
The Texas Catholic Conference has more than 50 cemeteries and estimates it would cost each cemetery $1,500 to $13,000 a year to provide the burials.
The issue arose as a result of a new regulation from the Department of State Health Services that requires the remains of unborn babies be cremated or buried.
The agency estimated that in 2014 more than 55,000 abortions were performed in Texas, while another 2,200 unborn babies died of other causes.
The regulation only applies to fetal remains from health care or abortion facilities and does not include miscarriages at home. Patients do not have to participate in the disposition of remains.
The regulations are scheduled to go into effect on Dec. 19, but abortion rights groups filed to stop the new policy.
The American Civil Liberties Union already challenged a fetal burial law in Indiana this year and a similar law in Louisiana is on hold, according to NPR.
Religion News Service reports that pro-lifers in many states are pushing the mandate in order to restrict abortions or keep the procedure in the public eye.
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