An Ohio law passed in 1975 requires aborted fetuses to be disposed of in a humane manner, but state Attorney General Mike DeWine said Tuesday that hasn't been happening, and he wants Planned Parenthood to change its procedures.
"We think they are in violation of the law, and they should change what they are doing," DeWine told
Fox News' "America's Newsroom" co-host Martha MacCallum.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. in Ohio granted a 28-day temporary restraining order against DeWine, to prevent him from going to court over the matter, saying Planned Parenthood could suffer "irreparable harm" if the state goes ahead with a lawsuit, reports
The Columbus Dispatch.
Further, Sargus said that Planned Parenthood could stand "some likelihood of success" in a court battle.
DeWine had vowed to seek an injunction to stop the practice, but on Sunday,
Planned Parenthood filed its own federal lawsuit to seek a court order blocking DeWine.
A hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 5.
DeWine said that during an investigation, officials learned the fetuses "are taken and put in an autoclave system, which is high pressure and hot steam [and] then they are taken to a landfill in Kentucky and dumped in that landfill."
Ohio law, though says the fetuses are to be disposed of humanely, and he doesn't think "there are too many Ohioans who would say that's a humane way to dispose of the aborted fetuses."
Planned Parenthood, however, is denying the allegations, claiming that its agreements with its vendors require them to follow the state law when making its disposals, but DeWine insisted that there are fetuses ending up in the landfill.
"Planned Parenthood always makes the allegation someone is trying to shut them down," the attorney general told MacCallum. "That's not the issue. The issue is, are they disposing of aborted fetuses in a humane way?"
DeWine continued that "the reality of abortion is horrible," but "Planned Parenthood never wants to talk about that. They never want to talk about what the reality really is. The reality, I told people in the last few days what happens to aborted fetuses, you can see them pull back so it does bring this reality home."
He commented that the state legislature is looking into the matter, and he expects an announcement that will define what they can do and can't do.