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Gov. Bill Haslam pushed for the bill in the wake of the Planned Parenthood scandal.Lance Cheung / US Department of Agriculture

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, April 18, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The Tennessee House has passed legislation adding new regulations for handling aborted fetal remains in the state.

The Fetal Remains Act passed 79-9 last Thursday, having already cleared the Senate in a 28-2 vote three days prior.

The proposed legislation adds language clarifying that reimbursement for the preparation, preservation, transfer, shipping, or handling of an aborted fetus or fetal tissue would be a Class E felony. The sale or purchase of fetal tissue is currently illegal in Tennessee.

The Senate will need to approve the House-amended measure before it goes to the governor. The legislation was on the Senate Message Calendar for possible consideration April 18, Senate staff told LifeSiteNews, with discussion possibly extending into the following day.

Governor Bill Haslam had advocated for passage of the law after the undercover videos surfaced implicating Planned Parenthood in trafficking the remains of children aborted at its facilities.

Explaining the need for the Act, Haslam’s website states, “As a result of deplorable practices being reported in other states related to the disposition of fetal remains, Governor Haslam has sought assurances that such illegal actions are not occurring in Tennessee.”

Haslam directed the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to review abortion regulations and inspection requirements related to the handling of aborted fetuses, looking for ways to strengthen regulations. Some administrative changes were immediately made, but Haslam maintained the legislation is needed to strengthen accountability and transparency for surgical abortion centers.

The bill adds the mandate that surgical abortion providers report the method of disposal of fetal remains to the TDH, and also provide identification and transfer date when there are transfers of remains to a third party. Abortion providers must already report abortions within 10 days.

Abortion facilities performing 50 or more surgical abortions in a year must keep records of these reports with the proposed bill, and produce them for the TDH during inspections. Those facilities must also conduct assessments of their compliance with the Board of Licensing Health Care Facilities on certain measures and report any incidents involving serious injury or death. 

The legislation also requires the mother’s consent for disposition of the fetus as part of the informed consent process before an abortion.

The TDH would get clear authority with the law to promulgate rules related to the tracking and disposition of fetal remains, prompting part of the House amendments before the Senate requiring that lawmakers get a copy of any rules created by TDH.

Prior to the House vote, at least one lawmaker said the Fetal Remains Act was unnecessary.

“The fact is that Tennessee has never done anything with fetal remains,” Nashville Democrat Representative Sherry Jones stated during debate on the bill. “That hasn't been legal ever, and the legislation that we've been passing here today is not really necessary, but if y'all want it, it's OK.”

A Republican legislator differed in the wake of the Planned Parenthood scandal, saying the measure was needed to take a stand to show that “we do not condone, we do not allow the trafficking and sale for profit of dead baby parts.”

“It does not matter if it is or is not going on,” Matthew Hill, from Jonesborough, stated.