It’s my understanding that desecration of a human corpse is a crime. So why then is Colorado Senate Bill 21-006, which will allow human remains to become compost, not considered desecration?

I recently buried my mother, and as I looked at her body in the casket, I thought of how I spent nine months in that body, and when I look in the mirror, I see both she and my father, as I also came from his body. I looked at her beautiful hands and thought of the love and care those hands gave to our family in goods times and difficult times. My mother’s hands held the rosary beads that she prayed so often in life, a tribute to her great faith. What I see as profound and sacred, Senate Bill 21-006 tells me is nothing more than manure.

I think of the ancient burial rites of every culture that has ever existed and how archaeologists are able to determine the customs of a people by studying their burial grounds, all the while giving the greatest respect and care to the area. Recently, human remains were found in Southern Colorado, and immediately authorities secured the area, again, giving this deceased person the respect they deserved. Many times I’ve seen relatives of missing persons on television, and they say that they presume their loved one is dead, but it torments them that they don’t know where the body is, as they want to properly lay them to rest.

Finally, our Judeo-Christian beliefs, which are America’s foundation, tell us that God created us in his image and likeness and gave us dominion over the earth and all the plants and animals. We take care of the Earth with humility and reverence, but the Earth is here to serve us; we don’t serve the Earth. We don’t turn ourselves into mulch, and we don’t make the Earth an idol.

If this bill passes, it is my prayer that no one will ever make the degrading choice to enact it for themselves or their family members.

Katherine Cain

Yampa