Lawsuit Challenges New Texas Rules Over Fetal Remains

FILE - In this July 12, 2013 file photo, opponents and supporters of abortion rights rally in the State Capitol rotunda in Austin, Texas. An advocacy group filed another federal lawsuit Wednesday, April 2, 2014, cha... FILE - In this July 12, 2013 file photo, opponents and supporters of abortion rights rally in the State Capitol rotunda in Austin, Texas. An advocacy group filed another federal lawsuit Wednesday, April 2, 2014, challenging a new provision in Texas' tough restrictions on abortion. The Center for Reproductive Rights asked an Austin-based judge to block enforcement of key portions of the law, including some which have yet to take effect. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa, File) MORE LESS
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A coalition of national advocacy groups has sued to block Texas’ soon-to-be-implemented rules mandating the burial or cremation of fetal remains.

The lawsuit filed Monday by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights is the latest legal battle in a state whose tough anti-abortion laws were already largely voided this summer by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Texas had been set to bar abortion facilities from disposing of fetal remains as biological medical waste beginning Dec. 19.

Earlier legal challenges blocked similar measures in Louisiana and Indiana.

Advocates call the rules unnecessary and Texas funeral home operators worry about interment and cremation costs.

The revisions were first proposed in July, four days after the Supreme Court voided much of a larger Texas abortion law.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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