720 ILCS 5/12-20.5 – Dismembering a Human Body
This law makes it a serious crime to knowingly cut apart or harm the body of someone who has died.
This Illinois law says that anyone who purposely cuts up or takes apart a dead person’s body commits a major crime. It also explains a few legal exceptions for medical, educational, and professional reasons.
(a) A person commits dismembering a human body when they knowingly cut apart, separate, or otherwise harm any part of a deceased person’s body.
(b) This law does not apply to certain lawful or professional actions, including:
- Donating body parts as part of an approved anatomical gift under the Illinois Anatomical Gift Act.
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- The lawful purchase or sale of materials made from human body parts used for medical research, treatment, or diagnosis.
- County medical examiners or coroners performing autopsies within their official duties.
- Licensed funeral directors or embalmers doing their authorized work under the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Licensing Code.
- Emergency medical personnel or doctors who act in good faith to try to save a life using normal medical practices.
- Licensed doctors, visiting professors, residents, or medical students performing normal medical acts or procedures as part of training or treatment.
(c) It is not a defense to this crime that the person who died passed away naturally, by accident, or by suicide.
(d) Sentence: Dismembering a human body is a Class X felony, which is the most serious level of felony crime in Illinois, carrying very severe penalties.
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