July 22, 2016 5:30 PM

Chairman Cook pressed HHSC to change rules for disposal of fetal remains prior to SCOTUS abortion ruling, documents show

While Gov. Abbott now fundraises from it, documents show Chairman Cook quietly pressed HHSC to end what he calls “an abhorrent practice”

Editor’s note: Chairman Cook’s letters to HHSC are available to our subscribers at the end of this story – SB

Original reports about Texas’ proposed rule to require the cremation or burial of fetal remains suggested the change is being made in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down major provisions of House Bill 2, the sweeping abortion regulations passed in 2013. But newly-surfaced documents show that is not the case and instead a powerful Texas House chairman was working behind the scenes to get this done well before the ruling.

The change in the rules was initiated earlier this year. Correspondence obtained by Quorum Report reveals that – without fanfare of any kind – House State Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, was pleading with the Health and Human Services Commission to expedite the change in how fetal remains are to be legally disposed of in this state.

By Scott Braddock