MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers on Thursday advanced a bill making it a crime for medical examiners to retain a deceased person’s organs without permission.
The legislation was introduced after several families said inmates’ bodies came back from autopsies with their hearts or other internal organs missing. The House of Representatives vote 89-1 for the proposal. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate.
State law currently requires medical examiners to have permission to retain organs unless it is done for identification or determining a cause of death. The bill would make it a felony for a medical examiner to retain a deceased person’s organs without getting that permission from “the appropriate next of kin.”
The families of several men who died while incarcerated filed federal lawsuits alleging that their loved ones’ bodies were missing organs when they were returned after state autopsies.
“We’re just letting people know that we are paying attention, and the law needs to be followed,” Rep. Chris England, the bill’s sponsor, said.
England said the issue was not on his “bingo card” for the year, but it became necessary to introduce. The bill was approved with little debate.
Palmprint recognition payment in Shanghai draws debate
People buy sheep at livestock market ahead of Eid al
EU condemns Turkish decision to convert Hagia Sophia back to mosque
Rangers put rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford on the injured list with a right hamstring strain
Chinese, Qatari medical experts hold video conference on fighting COVID
Xinhua Headlines: China, Vietnam Lift Ties to New Stage, Aiming for Shared Future
Mayor of S.Korean capital Seoul found dead
Tom Brady roast: Netflix live event features Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick reunion
Comicomment丨Ocean in sorrow: influx of nuclear