Although the creation of separate functions and, thus, separate licensure in the funeral industry is welcomed, I am concerned about the requirement in the new Funeral Director license for course study in Pathology.  My background is in the medical laboratory and, in that context, Pathology refers to investigation of human tissue.  In the biological sciences, Pathology refers to the disease process that affects an organism or a population.  If the Funeral Home receives a body of someone who died from tuberculosis, or in today’s world, Covid, the Funeral Director does not need to know the course of the disease in order to provide appropriate care to the family.  OSHA provides guidelines for safe handling of human remains.  The Funeral Director needs interpersonal and administrative skills in this profession.  If science were of interest, there are many other fields that provide employment opportunities.   This requirement should be removed.

My wife passed away from ALS six months ago. She had chosen cremation. Things went very smoothly with the funeral home, but it was clear from conversations with the provider that the pandemic was putting some stress on funeral services.

We need to take every opportunity to help that profession. Requiring a course in pathology for funeral directors is a step in the wrong direction.  More and more clients are choosing cremation due to negative aspects of embalming. The creation of a license for funeral directors separate from licenses for embalmers or funeral service licensees provides more options for those considering this profession.

Including pathology coursework works against people not interested in the more physical aspects of the funeral industry. Let the requirements serve the current state of the industry and society.  Everything is hard enough as it is. 

There legislature directed the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers to provide for licenses for embalmers and for funeral directors. These entail different skills and different work assignments. There is no need for funeral directors to meet the class requirements that are necessary for an embalmer. As embalming decreases in popularity, there is a need to meet consumer concerns. A funeral director license needs to cover administrative and public relations duties. It should be completely separate from embalmers.

Those who object to embalming on religious grounds ought to be able to obtain a license for a funeral director. 

My comment on the above legislation is:  having two different licenses is the only fair way to do it.  This enables prospective candidates who want to pursue a  funeral directors license but do not want to handle the physical ( embalming) aspect of obtaining license. Some groups do not embalm their dead.  I would give people planning a funeral a greater pool of businesses to choose from.

With the pandemic there is a greater need for funerals.  Having two different licenses would alleviate the shortage of funeral home directors.

As a citizen with family members in the Jewish community, I object to the requirement for a pathology class or embalming qualification for funeral home directors. We need a range of  compassionate caregivers to help us though the loss of a loved one, especially at this difficult time.