Hospitals in the United Kingdom are burning the remains of abοrted fetuses in an effort to cut down their bills on heating their hospitals, according to a report from British TV channel 4’s Dispatches program.
The recent revelation from Dispatches’ investigation has brought condemnation from both the public and politicians as to the unethical practice of at least two hospitals: Addenbrooke’s, Cambridge and Ipswich hospital.
Reportedly, the hospitals even went so far as to tell the mothers of the miscarried or abοrted babies that their child had been cremated, when in fact they had been incinerated as clinical waste for heating purposes.
Dispatches’ investigation discovered that, over the last two years, more than 15,500 babies’ remains had been disposed of in this manner at various major hospitals around the country.
Minister of Health Dr. Dan Poulter, said that some hospital’s procedure for the disposal of remains was completely unacceptable and the continuation of such inhumane disposal in this manner has since been banned by the Department of Health, after the report came to light.
Poulter went on to say “While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way, that must be the case for all hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority has now been asked to ensure that it acts on this issue without delay.”
Each hospital in the U.K. can be examined by inspectors at any time to ensure they are meeting the required government standards, but obviously the inspection teams have not been doing their job in the correct manner to allow these disgusting practices to continue.
Some hospitals have been allowed to fall short on government standards, according to Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals. He added that he would like to know more about these serious breaches in hospital standards and was waiting for Dispatches to share more information on the matter.
The U.K is not the only country to dispose of abοrted fetuses in an inhumane manner. The U.S. medical waste giant Stericycle, was fined $42,000 in 2011 for unlawfully dumping the remains of abοrted babies in a landfill in Austin, Texas.
Stericycle also had dealings with the convicted mυrderer and abοrtionist, Kermit Gosnell and disposed of the remains from his clinical practice for years. They have also incinerated babies at various incineration plants around the country, according to documents released by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.