Supreme Court upholds Indiana's fetal tissue burial law

The Supreme Court Tuesday upheld an Indiana law that governs how hospitals and abortion clinics can dispose of fetal remains, ruling the state does have a valid interest in that matter.

But the justices declined to hear a challenge involving the state’s law banning abortions when the decision is based on race, gender or diagnosed disability such as Down syndrome.

A lower appeals court had struck down that law as an infringement on abortion rights. The court said it wanted to wait for other cases to bubble up before granting a review.

Justice Clarence Thomas, in a passionate concurrence, said he agreed with denying review at this time, but noted the court will soon have to confront the question.

“The use of abortion to achieve eugenic goals is not merely hypothetical. The foundations for legalizing abortion in America were laid during the early 20th-century birth-control movement. That movement developed alongside the American eugenics movement,” Justice Thomas wrote.

He also agreed with the court’s decision upholding Indiana’s fetal tissue law as common sense.

“I would have thought it could go without saying that nothing in the Constitution or any decision of this court prevents a state from requiring abortion facilities to provide for the respectful treatment of human remains,” Justice Thomas said.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Sonia Sotomayor would have denied the state’s petition to uphold the disposal law.