On Wednesday, Agudath Israel of Illinois submitted testimony in opposition to House Bill 305. The bill allows a funeral director to embalm a body in its possession after a period of 72 hours without receiving instructions from the family. Agudath Israel wrote a joint letter to the committee together with the Chicago Rabbinical Council expressing concerns with the bill. While the sponsor, Representative Brady, made many positive changes to the original bill based on a conversation he had with the participants of Agudath Israel’s recent mission to Springfield, the amendments did not go far enough.
