Committee Votes to Allow Religious Exemptions to Autopsies

After two back-to-back disputes over planned autopsies on American Indian crash victims in the Northland, a Minnesota House panel has unanimously passed a bill allowing families to object to autopsies on loved ones due to a religious concerns.

The bill (HF1935) passed unanimously Thursday by the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee provides an avenue for autopsies to proceed in several cases, like murder or concerns of infectious disease. A similar bill is proceeding in the Senate.

Winnie LaPrairie says it took court orders and several days of protesting earlier this year to save her husband's body from an autopsy that would have violated their cultural beliefs. She calls the ordeal heartbreaking.

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