Letter to the Editor: Advocates say fetal remains proposal is unnecessarily restrictive

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Despite months of opposition and pandemic-related supply chain obstacles, Planned Parenthood of Delaware successfully opened a new clinic in Seaford this month, which will ultimately give Sussex and northern Maryland residents local abortion access for the first time in nearly a decade.

However, it appears anti-choice proponents have not given up their fight to limit access in Sussex. Despite a high-profile, well-attended Rally for Roe in Seaford on Oct. 2, a written warning from the state Attorney General’s Office and letters in opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice, Delaware’s chapter of the National Organization for Women and others, the Seaford City Council is still pushing forward towards a vote on a restrictive ordinance, scheduled for 7 p.m. today.  

On its face, the proposal is aimed at disposal of fetal medical tissue. It purports to treat the tissue with dignity, but it will hurt people in Seaford and surrounding areas by subjecting them to medically unnecessary restrictions that are intended to shame and stigmatize those who choose to seek abortion, and to limit access by imposing additional financial burdens on both patients and providers. The proposed ordinance puts the burden on the woman seeking the abortion or the abortion provider to dispose of the medical tissue. To us, the real purpose appears to be limiting access to abortion in Seaford by erecting medically unnecessary hurdles and making it more difficult for clinics to provide care. It would disproportionately impact Black women, women of color and all poor women.

The state already regulates abortion facilities and crematoriums and requires that all medical tissue be disposed of in a medically appropriate, safe and sanitary manner. By passing this proposed ordinance, the City Council would be overstepping its authority by legislating in an area that state law controls and by instituting restrictions in conflict with state law.

This municipal proposal is contrary to Delaware state law, which guarantees the right of abortion through 20 weeks. Further, despite recent widely publicized Supreme Court arguments seeking to limit abortion, the ordinance could be unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade.

The Seaford PPDE clinic may have opened, but if this ordinance passes, abortion access isn’t threatened only in Sussex but in Delaware as a whole. This proposal was before the Seaford council in October but was “tabled,” after the ACLU threatened to sue and after the Delaware Department of Justice demanded to know the legal justification for the proposed ordinance. Anti-choice advocates have been emboldened by what’s happening at the U.S. Supreme Court this month, and here is this proposal, back on the table.

There will be no public comment at this meeting of all-male councilpeople on an issue wholly related to women’s health and right to bodily autonomy. We urge women (and men!) to attend and fill the room. Written comment is permitted at councilinfo@seafordde.com, and the meeting may be viewed online at seafordde.com/government/mayor_council/meeting_live_stream.

Melissa Froemming

President, Delaware chapter of National Organization for Women

 

Paulette Rappa

Chair, Women’s March Sussex-DE

 

Clara S. Licata

Co-chair, Legislative/Advocacy Committee

Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice

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