OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington Senate has approved a bill that would allow families to block autopsies for religious reasons.
Lawmakers passed the plan Thursday evening with a 46-2 vote. Democratic Sen. Adam Kline says the measure seeks to balance people’s religious beliefs with the need for medical examiners to do their work.
The bill would allow families who have religious objections a 48-hour window to ask a court if the autopsy must occur. The coroner or medical examiner can also ask the court to authorize an autopsy over a religious objection.
Lawmakers began to consider the measure after a legal battle over whether to conduct an autopsy of a Jewish man who died on Mount Rainier in December.
The measure now goes to the state House.
