This anti-abortion rights position, however, says personhood extends to tissue from elective abortions, and would make it mandatory for women having abortions to be responsible for disposing of the remains. Brown feels the same way about tissue from abortions. Those who favor abortion rights also support giving parents the option of disposing of the remains of a miscarriage. They believe women who experience a miscarriage be offered a choice when dealing with remains since not all would want a burial or a cremation. Nuance is key to understanding this issue, say abortion rights advocates.
Women can experience real grief from a miscarriage.
We need to honor individual's emotional needs. But Gallagher says some pro-abortion rights advocates are reluctant to acknowledge that women experience dramatic grief from miscarriage, because it would provide weight to abortion rights opponents about the value of early fetal life. Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Adina Quijada says her organization, which provides pre- and postnatal reproductive care, says her organization abides by the rules of each state and provides counseling when it is appropriate for miscarriages as well as induced abortions. To help other parents like herself, McGregor is now lobbying legislators in Illinois to change its law governing the disposal of tissue from pregnancy losses before 20 weeks of gestational age so it would be similar to Massachusetts law. McGregor held a memorial service for her baby at her church soon after her loss.