The Department of Health in New York City has tossed a rule requiring abortion facilities to classify late-term aborted babies as "human remains" to be sent to funeral homes in order to be buried or cremated. The remains of babies aborted after 24 weeks in the womb, generally considered to be a point of viability, were once required to be sent to funeral homes for burial or cremation in New York City. Babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived and gone on to thrive.

With the rule's reversal, however, there will no longer be such a requirement, per the New York Post. Abortion clinics will now be allowed to dispose of the babies' remains on the premises of the facility, along with other waste, in order to avoid costs for those that have the late-term abortions. "The Department is proposing to amend the Health Code Articles 203 and 205 to eliminate the requirement that any conceptus that has completed 24 or more weeks of gestation be disposed of as human remains," the rule change stated.