The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Monday challenging new Texas regulations [text, PDF] that would require the burial or cremation of aborted fetal remains. The new regulations, approved last week by the Texas Department of State Health Services [official website], are set to take effect December 19 and would require the burial or cremation of fetal tissue from abortions and miscarriages. Proponents claim the regulations will prevent the spread of communicable diseases. However, critics claim that the regulations are an undue burden on women seeking abortions. According to [press release] CRR President and CEO Nancy Northup, “[t]hese regulations are an insult to Texas women, the rule of law and the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared less than six months ago that medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion access are unconstitutional.” The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas on behalf of Whole Woman’s Health, Brookside Women’s Health Center and Austin Women’s Health Center, Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services, Reproductive Services and Dr. Lendol Davis.

The US Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] a controversial Texas abortion law in June. The court ruled [opinion, PDF] 5-3 in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt [SCOTUSblog materials] that HB2 [text], which imposed certain requirements on abortion clinics and doctors, created an undue burden on access to abortion, and was therefore unconstitutional.