Senate Bill S9149A

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9149

SPONSOR: FERNANDEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law and the administrative code of the
city of New York, in relation to prohibiting charges for the issuance of
a certificate of still birth or fetal death

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill prohibits fees associated with obtaining a certificate of
stillbirth or fetal death.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Subdivision 9 of § 4160-a of the public health law is amended
to prohibit the registrar from charging any fee for the issuance of a
certificate of still birth.

Section 2. § 4160 of the public health law will prohibit a local regist-
rar from charging a fee for the issuance of a certificate of fetal
              

death.

Section 3. Subdivision b of § 17-169 of the administrative code of the
city of New York is amended to prohibit the board from prescribing or
charging fees for searches made of records of fetal deaths or tran-
scripts of records of fetal deaths.

Section 4. Effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

A certificate of still birth is a document that no parent ever desires
to receive, yet this piece of paper provides grieving parents with some
degree of remembrance of their child.  Certificates of still birth and
fetal death are issued by a respective state's office of vital records,
according to the Star Legacy Foundation, and the Foundation notes that
prior to certificates of still birth and fetal death existing, stillborn
babies did not receive any recognition of life.

On March 21, 2012, Chapter 552 of 2011 went into effect which required
the issuance of certificates of still birth to New York parents. The
justification for this law read, in part, "Many families who have
suffered the agony of a stillbirth want a certificate acknowledging the
process, with contractions, labor and delivery, that resulted in a
stillbirth. They feel it would ease their pain and help in their healing
process."

Chapter 552 of 2011 provides that the registrar may charge a fee for
issuing a certificate of still birth that is equal to the fee for a
certificate of birth or a certificate of death, but there is no require-
ment that a mandatory fee be paid to obtain a certificate of still
birth.

Currently, it costs $30 to acquire a certificate of still birth from the
New York State Department of Health, per copy, and $15 to obtain a
certificate of still birth from the New York City Department of Health

with an additional $3 per copy. While the initial copy of a fetal death
certificate is free additional copies of this certificate cost $30 each.

These fees may seem inexpensive but it is important to remember why
these certificates exist, to ease the pain of parents and help families
in the healing process. Prohibiting any fees from being charged for a
certificate of still birth and a certificate of fetal death guarantees
that no financial barrier will exist for New Yorkers to obtain these
invaluable certificates.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.