I did not see this news story until just now, and my jaw literally dropped. As reported by AP and seen on The Brookings Register:
The South Dakota Supreme Court will be asked to decide whether police investigating the possible statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl needed a warrant to seize a placenta or other materials discarded after an abortion.
It’s a tricky question in South Dakota, where strict laws discourage abortion and many politicians view fetuses as equal to fully formed humans. A deputy state’s attorney argues in this case that the accused can have no expectation of privacy in medical remains and that tissue resulting from an abortion is simply waste, legally the same as household garbage.
Read more on The Brookings Register.