- Feb 5, 2002
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Connecticut is the latest among several states to consider legalizing the controversial practice of “human composting,” a method of burial that the U.S. bishops have said fails to respect human remains in accordance with Catholic teaching.
The measure under consideration in the state Legislature, H.B. 5354, seeks to “authorize the natural organic reduction of human remains as a final disposition of such remains,” a practice known as “terramation.” A public hearing for the bill is scheduled for Friday of this week.
The process of “human composting” involves placing a deceased’s body in a vessel or receptacle, after which it is covered with organic materials such as wood chips and straw and then allowed to decompose. The body is then broken down into what one human composting company calls a “nutrient-rich soil,” which loved ones are permitted to dispose of as they see fit.
The Connecticut law under consideration would permit such facilities to operate in the state and would stipulate how they must operate. The legislation includes rules such as the directive that the decomposing receptacles must be “thoroughly swept” after bodies have been composted inside of them.
A similar bill last year failed to advance in the legislature. State Rep. Christine Palm, who sponsored both last year’s legislation and this year’s bill, told the Connecticut Examiner this week that the measure represents “a new model for funeral parlors,” one that offers an “alternative to the existing ways we have of disposing of a human corpse.”
If the bill becomes law, Connecticut will become the seventh state to legalize human composting after Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, New York, and Vermont.
Continued below.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
The measure under consideration in the state Legislature, H.B. 5354, seeks to “authorize the natural organic reduction of human remains as a final disposition of such remains,” a practice known as “terramation.” A public hearing for the bill is scheduled for Friday of this week.
The process of “human composting” involves placing a deceased’s body in a vessel or receptacle, after which it is covered with organic materials such as wood chips and straw and then allowed to decompose. The body is then broken down into what one human composting company calls a “nutrient-rich soil,” which loved ones are permitted to dispose of as they see fit.
The Connecticut law under consideration would permit such facilities to operate in the state and would stipulate how they must operate. The legislation includes rules such as the directive that the decomposing receptacles must be “thoroughly swept” after bodies have been composted inside of them.
A similar bill last year failed to advance in the legislature. State Rep. Christine Palm, who sponsored both last year’s legislation and this year’s bill, told the Connecticut Examiner this week that the measure represents “a new model for funeral parlors,” one that offers an “alternative to the existing ways we have of disposing of a human corpse.”
If the bill becomes law, Connecticut will become the seventh state to legalize human composting after Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, New York, and Vermont.
Catholic teaching stresses respect for bodily remains
Continued below.
Connecticut latest state to consider ‘human composting’
The measure under consideration seeks to “authorize the natural organic reduction of human remains as a final disposition of such remains.”
www.catholicnewsagency.com
