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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: redfish who wrote (94465)	1/24/2005 10:02:11 AM
From: redfish	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

Doctor says mortuary broke pact to bury fetal remains By Eric Gorski Denver Post Staff Writer A Boulder abortion doctor says he took concrete steps to prevent the use of fetal remains from his clinic for religious purposes after learning that a Roman Catholic parish buried ashes from the clinic in the late 1990s, only to be betrayed when a local mortuary reinstated the practice. Dr. Warren Hern said that after discovering in 1999 that a Lafayette mortuary had been delivering ashes to Sacred Heart of Mary church, he worked out a safeguard-laden contract in 2001 with a different company, Crist Mortuary of Boulder. The mortuary's contract for cremating the clinic's fetal material states that ashes unclaimed by patients are not to be used in a religious ceremony without the clinic's permission and are to be buried in the mortuary's cemetery plot, said Hern, who declined to provide a copy of the contract. But last week, the Boulder parish revealed it had been quietly burying cremated remains provided by Crist since 2001. To spread word about its "Memorial Wall for the Unborn," the parish invited the public to another burial ceremony after 9 a.m. Mass today, marking the 32nd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade court decision legalizing abortion. The story has drawn national attention and passionate responses, with abortion-rights supporters calling it an invasion of privacy that retraumatizes women and abortion foes framing it as a chance to give dignity to lost human lives and for wounded women to heal. Hern said his employees who negotiated the contract with Crist did not know that Chuck Myers, the man who had delivered ashes to Sacred Heart parish as an employee at Howe Mortuary in Lafayette in the 1990s, had taken a job with Crist's parent company. "My patients are calling, and they're furious and horrified because they have worked through this," said Hern, who declined to say whether he would sue. "They're furious at Crist Mortuary and the Catholic Church for making a public spectacle in this macabre death ritual." Terry Hemeyer, a spokesman for Houston-based Service Corporation International, which owns Crist Mortuary, said Friday he did not know the contract details, but he defended the mortuary's actions. "The church cemetery had a site for the ashes to be placed and was willing to take them," Hemeyer said. "There was no intent by the mortuary to make any political or religious statement. We as funeral directors are always trying to handle remains with respect, and I think that's what happened here." Hemeyer confirmed that Myers works for the company. Myers has not returned messages left by The Denver Post seeking comment. Hern said he was "horrified" to read a 1999 story in the Boulder Weekly describing the relationship between Howe Mortuary and Sacred Heart. The story quoted Myers, identified as the mortuary director when the arrangement began, as saying his staff was disturbed by the deliveries from Hern's clinic. Myers contacted the Rev. Andrew Kemberling, the parish priest at the time, who agreed to perform funerals at the mortuary before cremation and then bury the ashes in the parish graveyard, the paper reported. Hern said he could not recall whether his contract with Howe included restrictions on dealing with ashes. Ryan Anderson, the current director of Howe Mortuary, said the business is under new ownership and he didn't know about the mortuary's history with the abortion clinic. Susan LaVelle, a Sacred Heart volunteer, said the parish received ashes from Howe Mortuary from 1996 to 1998, when Myers left the mortuary. She said the parish began receiving the ashes again in 2001 after Myers was hired by the company that runs Crist. In searching for a different mortuary to cremate fetal material, Hern said he crafted a contract aiming to prevent the situation from happening again. He said clinic records show Myers took part in the Crist contract negotiations but that his employees "had no idea" they were talking to someone who had played a part in giving ashes to the parish in the past. Hern said he went to Crist in part because the mortuary had handled his father's funeral. He said his Boulder Abortion Clinic has paid Crist $1,575 for cremation and burial services since 2001. "I thought we could trust these people," Hern said. "When we went to them, they were very supportive and helpful and said, 'We're going to help you take care of this."' The parish says it will bury the remains of 600 to 1,000 fetuses this weekend, numbers that Hern maintains are exaggerated. A state health department official said no laws were broken in the disposal of the remains; state rules say infectious waste "consisting of recognizable human anatomical remains" must be incinerated or interred. About 200 people attended a candlelight vigil Friday night at Sacred Heart parish to mark the Roe vs. Wade anniversary. Two women showed up to protest and sat on the ground with their backs to the service. Sergio Gutierrez, spokesman for the Denver Catholic archdiocese, said the archdiocese supports the parish's actions. What Gutierrez says he can't understand is why Hern and abortion-rights backers are upset. "It's puzzling, the confused messages being sent out," Gutierrez said. "If they're not unborn children, why are they concerned about this at all? And if they are unborn children, wouldn't this be an appropriate way to behave? They can't have it both ways. What's appalling is the commerce Dr. Hern is generating from this practice." Hern is the author of a seminal abortion textbook and an outspoken activist who has worked behind bulletproof glass since someone shot into his office in 1988. His clinic specializes in late-term abortions "for fetal disorders," according to the clinic website. denverpost.com