The Seattle City Council has voted to effectively ban the cadaver exhibit "Bodies ... The Exhibition" from returning to the city. The ordinance that now goes to Mayor Mike McGinn would bar commercial displays of human remains that don't have proof of consent.

German anatomists plan a new show dedicated solely to dead bodies having sex as part of the Body Worlds exhibitions.

A French judge ruled Tuesday to shut down a Paris exhibition of real human bodies from China, saying that exhibiting dead bodies for profit is a "violation of the respect owed to them."
...
Human rights groups are hailing Judge Raingeard's decision.

"I am extremely happy with the decision," said Richard Sedillot, a lawyer for two Paris-based human rights groups who filed a complaint against the show's organizer.

Sedillot said that given the well-documented human rights abuses in China, he fears some of the cadavers on display come from executed prisoners.
...
"I am convinced that the exhibition is the last step in a horrible traffic operation of human bodies originating in China."

Sedillot said the organizer could not prove that the bodies on display were donated with consent and that the exhibition itself violates French law.

Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions Inc. is looking to bring its controversial "Bodies ... the Exhibition" show to Indianapolis. The exhibit, which features cadavers that have been plasticized, dissected and posed, has been dogged by reports that the specimens used in the presentation may be the remains of tortured Chinese prisoners.

If the show opens here, it would debut mere months before the Indiana State Museum is slated to bring the more reputable "Body Worlds III" exhibit to Indianapolis. The founder of that show's company, Dr. Gunther von Hagens, has spoken out against using bodies from China, which doesn't closely regulate its specimens.

The company attributed the loss to a reduced number of revenue-producing days because many of its exhibitions were traveling, negative publicity for the companies Bodies exhibit from ABC's 20/20 news show, and an increase in administrative costs as it tries to produce more of its own exhibits.

Morris Tsai, a Taiwanese-American and a Bodies protester since the show opened, says the attendance figures are misleading, pointing out that the Vatican drew its 186,000 in 120 days and it has taken 141 days for Bodies, so it's not a record-setter. "Clearly, Bodies' attendance is trailing the Vatican. It took three weeks longer to match the Vatican."

The Bodies controversy got the show off to a roaring start - its first month attracted 53,000 visitors, compared to 27,000 for the Vatican

I called five members of the Museum Center's advisory panel to ask: If you had known all this, would you still have approved this exhibit?

Only two responded. Rabbi Irv Wise said he did not attend any of the meetings.

Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens replied, "More has come out that was not told to us." He said the exhibit had been in many cities, so nobody questioned the bodies. "We weren't given clear enough information. The Museum Center assured us they had done the due diligence."

What he's heard since "casts doubt on that, but given the information we had at the time, we made the right call."

It was at that point that the astonished surgeons noticed the man was beginning to breathe unaided again, his pupils were active, he was giving signs that he could feel pain -- and finally, his heart started beating again.

Several weeks later, the man can walk and talk.