Bills › 89th General Assembly
Relating to a certificate of nonviable birth
Sponsored by the Senate Human Resources Committee
Topics:State governmentHealth care
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 20, 2021
- Done: SubcommitteeJanuary 21, 2021
- Done: Senate committeeFebruary 10, 2021
- Skipped: Passes the SenateContinued as SF 577
- Next: House committee
- Next: Passes the House
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Became SF 577 → Its progress continues under the new number. Go to SF 577 What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary Doctors and hospitals will tell patients who experience a nonviable birth—when a pregnancy ends before the twentieth week after a heartbeat was detected—that they can request an official certificate. If a patient asks for one, the Department of Public Health will provide a document that includes certain details but notes it is not proof of a live birth. These certificates cannot be used to file lawsuits for damages or wrongful death.1
Read the official explanation
This bill relates to a certificate of nonviable birth.31A. Under the bill, a “nonviable birth” means an unintentional, spontaneous fetal demise occurring after demonstration of a doppler-detected heartbeat and prior to the twentieth week of gestation during a pregnancy that has been verified by a health care provider. The bill provides that a health care provider who attends or diagnoses a nonviable birth or a hospital at which a nonviable birth occurs shall advise a patient who experiences a nonviable birth that the patient may request a certificate of nonviable birth and, upon request by the patient, shall provide a letter certifying the nonviable birth to the patient. The bill authorizes the department of public health (DPH) to prescribe by administrative rule the form and content of a request and the process for requesting a certificate of nonviable birth. DPH shall issue a certificate within days of receipt of a request by the patient and submission of the certification letter. DPH shall adopt administrative rules to prescribe the form and content of and the fee for the preparation of a certificate. The fee shall not exceed the actual cost of preparation of the certificate.” Fees collected are to be deposited in the general fund of the state and the vital records fund. A certificate of nonviable birth shall not be required to be filed or registered; DPH shall not register the nonviable birth associated with a certificate or use the nonviable birth in calculating live birth statistics; and a certificate of nonviable birth shall not be used to establish, bring, or support a civil cause of action seeking damages against any person for bodily injury, personal injury, or wrongful death for a nonviable birth. The bill applies to, and a certificate of nonviable birth may be requested and issued only for, nonviable births occurring on or after July 1, 2021.
Changed since by amendment H-8265; see Amendments.
Senate subcommittee
Named February 24, 2021. On March 10, 2021 it recommended passage.
Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part
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89th General Assembly