COLUMBUS, Ohio - Fetal remains from abortions performed at three Planned Parenthood facilities in Ohio have ended up in landfills or incinerators, according to an investigation by Attorney General Mike DeWine's office.

A Planned Parenthood official defended the way her organization disposes of such remains and said DeWine's allegations were politically motivated. The investigation, released Friday, also found no evidence that Planned Parenthood clinics in Ohio sold fetal tissue - the original subject of the probe.

According to the attorney general's investigation, Planned Parenthood clinics in Cincinnati and Columbus gave fetal remains to Marietta-based Accu Medical Waste. DeWine said the company then, in his words, "steam-cooked" the remains in a sterilizing pressure chamber before sending them to a landfill in Kentucky.

The third Planned Parenthood clinic, in Bedford Heights, turned over remains of aborted fetuses to Illinois-based Stericycle, which then either incinerated the remains or sent them to a landfill, DeWine said at a news conference Friday.

Joe Schmansky, assistant attorney general for charitable law, said investigators found such a disposal system had been in place since at least January 2014, the earliest date of the records they studied.

While such actions aren't illegal under state law, DeWine said they violate Ohio administrative code, which states that a "fetus shall be disposed of in a humane manner."

"I think it will come as a shock to Ohioans to find out that fetuses are being cooked and then they're being put in a landfill and they're going to be mixed in with yesterday's garbage," DeWine said.

DeWine said his office, in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Health, would likely file court papers by Monday seeking an injunction for Planned Parenthood to dispose of fetal remains humanely. DeWine suggested "humane" disposal methods could include burial or cremation, though he said he didn't want to provide an exact definition.

Attorneys with DeWine's office said they weren't sure whether Planned Parenthood knew what the waste disposal companies were doing with the fetal tissue. But DeWine said it was Planned Parenthood's responsibility to ensure they dispose of the remains correctly.

Stephanie Kight, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said in an interview that DeWine is presenting a misleading image to the public that aborted fetuses are just being carted over to the local dump.

Fetal remains from Planned Parenthood clinics, like other fetal remains from hospitals or medical waste from a clinic, are sterilized and sent to specially licensed disposal sites or incinerators.

"We're talking about respectful facilities," Kight said.

Kight added that such facilities follow a different part of the Ohio administrative code than the part DeWine claims was violated.

"I think they're being properly disposed of," Kight said of fetal remains from Planned Parenthood clinics in Ohio. "That's what my contract [with the removal companies] says - that's what they've assured us of."

DeWine's allegations, Kight said, were motivated by his political agenda against abortion.

"Let's be clear, this is about one thing: banning access to safe, legal abortion," she said.

When a phone call was made to Accu Medical Waste, a man declined to comment and hung up before identifying himself. A call to Stericycle was not returned Friday.

DeWine's office opened the investigation into Planned Parenthood in July after anti-abortion activists released undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the price of fetal body parts. DeWine's office admitted it found no evidence that Planned Parenthood affiliates in Ohio sold fetal tissue, which is banned under state law.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican candidate for president, said in a statement that DeWine's findings were "disturbing." The governor stated he has tasked the Ohio Department of Health to work with DeWine's office "to take appropriate legal action."

Kasich added, "This investigation shows the need for further work with the Ohio General Assembly to rein in Planned Parenthood, while continuing to ensure access to vital health care services for women."

Ohio Right To Life, an anti-abortion group, stated in a release that it is working with state lawmakers to draw up legislation that would require fetal remains to be disposed of only by "humane burial or cremation." Violators could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The measure would also require clinics to tell abortion patients how their fetus' remains will be disposed of, according to the release.

Ohio lawmakers are already moving to stop all state-administered funding to Planned Parenthood. Ohio law already prohibits public funding from being used to pay for abortions, though Planned Parenthood received more than $1 million in state money last year for services such as sexually-transmitted disease testing and breast and cervical cancer screenings.

Here is a letter sent by DeWine to Ohio Department of Health Director Richard Hodges on Friday: