SACRAMENTO, Jan. 25 California lawmakers are considering a bill requiring exhibits of cadavers to first receive the consent of the donors.
The bill, which was passed Thursday by the state Assembly, is a response to traveling shows in which "plastinated" bodies are put on display.
The Los Angeles Times said the legislation now before the state Senate requires exhibitors to obtain a permit from county officials before setting up their shows. Those permits would require proof that the people whose remains are on display had consented to becoming an attraction following their death.
The bill's sponsor, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, said consent was "not too much to ask" during the debate in the Assembly.
"Although plastination was intended to advance medicine and science,
many entrepreneurs are using plastination to make outrageous profits by
dissecting, mutilating and parading unwilled bodies around the world and in our state," she said.
Copyright 2008 by UPI
