Funeral services; alkaline hydrolysis prohibited, penalty. (HB379)

Introduced By

Del. Brenda Pogge (R-Williamsburg)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Funeral services; alkaline hydrolysis prohibited; penalty.  Prohibits any person from offering alkaline hydrolysis, which is the chemical process to dissolve human tissue, human remains, or a dead human body involving heat, high pressure, water, and potassium hydroxide, or an alternative alkaline solution. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
01/10/2012Committee
01/10/2012Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/12 12103627D
01/10/2012Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
01/17/2012Impact statement from DPB (HB379)
01/24/2012Stricken from docket by Health, Welfare and Institutions

Comments

S. Power writes:

This is a greener way to dispose of remains than cremation provides. It has been approved in at least 3 states. We don't prohibit cremation which has the same end result--why not allow a greener option?

Waldo Jaquith writes:

I'm wondering why we'd ban this, too. I just read a bit about it on Wikipedia, and noticed that the Mayo Clinic uses this process to "cremate" donated bodies. That's a pretty strong endorsement for "resomation," as it's apparently called.

This bill is yet another example of why legislators should provide statements explaining why they've introduced each of their bills.