Editing Embalming (section)

===Present day===
Modern embalming is most often performed to ensure a better presentation of the deceased for [[viewing (funeral)|viewing]] by friends and relatives. It is also used for medical research or training.

A successful viewing of the body is considered to be helpful in the [[grieving]] process.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steele |first=Donald |date= |title=The Value of Viewing the Body |url=http://www.amsocembalmers.org/docs/viewing.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006054927/http://www.amsocembalmers.org/docs/viewing.pdf |archive-date=6 October 2008 |access-date=8 December 2008 |website=amsocembalmers.org}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Embalming has the potential to prevent mourners from having to deal with the rotting and eventual putrescence of the corpse.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Metcalf |first1=Peter |title=Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual |last2=Huntington |first2=Richard |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1991 |isbn=9780511803178 |edition=2nd |location=Cambridge}}</ref> Despite a common misconception, embalming is not mandatory in the United States,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mikkelson |first=Barbara |date=June 9, 1999 |title=Have People Been Buried Alive? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/just-dying-to-get-out/ |website=[[Snopes]]}}</ref><ref name="Problem of Embalming" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Slominski |first=Elena |date=August 29, 2023 |title=Life of the death system: shifting regimes, evolving practices, and the rise of eco-funerals |journal=Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=7 |doi=10.1080/15487733.2023.2243779 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023SSPP...1943779S }}</ref> although it is a general legal requirement for international repatriation of human remains to the U.S. (exceptions do occur).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Returning the Remains of a Deceased U.S. Citizen to the United States |url=https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/while-abroad/death-abroad1/return-of-remains-of-deceased-us-citizen.html |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=travel.state.gov}}</ref>

There are no universal international preservation requirements for repatriation of human remains, but requirements for embalming do exist for a variety of countries depending on locality and circumstance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 April 2020 |title=Guidance Information on the Transport of COVID-19 Human Remains by Air: Collaborative document by WHO, CDC, IATA and ICAO |url=https://www.iata.org/contentassets/8aa8928c553042bf99a5014d8ac25c8f/guidance-document-transport-of-covid-19-human-remains.pdf |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=IATA}}</ref> Some international standards do exist however, such as the Strasbourg Agreement of the Council of Europe, agreed to by more than 20 States in Europe, which only requires embalming in cases where the individual died due to an infectious disease.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 October 1973 |title=Agreement on the Transfer of Corpses, Strasbourg, 26.X.1973 |url=https://rm.coe.int/168007617d |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Council of Europe / Conseil de l'Europe}}</ref>