The US Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s law requiring the remains of abortion victims be interred or cremated on May 28, in a decision that hints at the Court’s future thinking about abortion. The decision could also be seen as a victory for advocates of foetal personhood legislation, as it implicitly concedes that the remains are human.
The unsigned opinion itself was a mixed bag, upholding the fetal burial provisions of the Indiana law, while declining to review the portion banning sex- or race-selective abortion – or a diagnosis of Down’s syndrome – and letting stand a lower court ruling that blocked the ban. The Atlantic described the decision as a “dodge” on abortion. Garrett Epps added later in the piece that “the Court is playing its abortion cards very close to the vest.”
