Assembly Bill A611

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    611
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  EICHENSTEIN -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the disposition of
   fetal remains
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 4160 of the public health law, as amended by chap-
 ter 436 of the laws of 1967, subdivision 2 as amended and subdivisions 4
 and 5 as added by chapter 809 of the laws of 1987 and subdivision  3  as
 amended  by  chapter  552  of  the  laws  of 2011, is amended to read as
 follows:
   § 4160. Fetal deaths; registration. 1. Fetal death is defined as death
 prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its  [mother]  GESTA-
 TIONAL  PARENT of a product of conception; the death is indicated by the
 fact that after such separation, the fetus does not breathe or show  any
 other  evidence  of  life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the
 umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles.
   2. A fetal death shall be registered within  seventy-two  hours  after
 expulsion  of  [such  fetus]  A  FETUS OF ANY GESTATIONAL AGE, by filing
 directly with the commissioner a certificate of such death. In addition,
 a report of fetal death shall  be  reported  to  the  registrar  in  the
 district in which the fetal death occurred.
   3.  IN  THE  CASE OF A SPONTANEOUS FETAL DEATH AT ANY GESTATIONAL AGE,
 THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN OR A PERSON DESIGNATED  BY  THE  HOSPITAL  SHALL
 ENSURE THAT THE GESTATIONAL PARENT OF THE FETUS IS INFORMED OF THE RIGHT
 TO ACCESS THE REPORT OF FETAL DEATH AND TO DIRECT EITHER BURIAL, ENTOMB-
 MENT OR CREMATION OF THE FETAL REMAINS.
   4. For the purposes of this article, a fetal death shall be considered
 as a birth and as a death except that, for a fetal death, separate birth
 and  death  certificates  shall  not  be  required  to  be  prepared and
 recorded, except as provided in section  forty-one  hundred  sixty-a  of
 this title.
 
              

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00875-01-5
 A. 611                              2
 
   [4.] 5. Local registrars of each district in which fetal death certif-
 icates  were filed prior to the effective date of this subdivision shall
 dispose of such certificates in the manner prescribed by the commission-
 er.
   [5.]  6.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of this chapter, the
 disclosure of information filed pursuant to this section shall be limit-
 ed to the [mother] GESTATIONAL PARENT, [her]  THE  GESTATIONAL  PARENT'S
 lawful representative and to authorized personnel of the department.
   §  2. Section 4162 of the public health law, as amended by chapter 809
 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as follows:
   § 4162. Fetal deaths; burial and removal; permits.   1.   THE  REMAINS
 RESULTING FROM A SPONTANEOUS FETAL DEATH AT ANY GESTATIONAL AGE SHALL BE
 RELEASED  TO  THE  GESTATIONAL PARENT OF THE FETUS UPON REQUEST AND UPON
 ISSUANCE OF A PERMIT PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION THREE OF THIS SECTION.
   2. A permit shall be required for the removal, transportation,  burial
 or other disposition of remains resulting from a fetal death, other than
 fetal tissue, hydatidiform mole or other evidence of pregnancy recovered
 by  curettage or operative procedures or other products of conception of
 under twenty weeks uterogestation.
   [2.] 3. Such permit shall be issued by  the  local  registrar  of  the
 district  in  which  the  fetal  death occurred upon presentation by the
 funeral director OR THE GESTATIONAL PARENT OF THE FETUS of a  report  of
 fetal death, on the form prescribed by the commissioner. The issuance of
 such permit shall be subject to the provisions of title IV of this arti-
 cle.
   4.  THE  PHYSICIAN  OR  A PERSON DESIGNATED BY A HOSPITAL SHALL ENSURE
 THAT THE GESTATIONAL PARENT OF THE FETUS IS INFORMED BOTH ORALLY AND  IN
 WRITING  ABOUT  THE  RIGHT  TO  ACCESS  THE REPORT OF FETAL DEATH AND TO
 DIRECT EITHER BURIAL, ENTOMBMENT OR CREMATION OF THE FETAL REMAINS.
   § 3. Section 4200 of the public health law, subdivision 1  as  amended
 by chapter 34 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   §  4200.  Cadavers; duty of burial.  1. Except in the cases in which a
 right to dissect it is expressly conferred  by  law,  every  body  of  a
 deceased  person, within this state, shall be decently buried, naturally
 organically reduced, or  incinerated  within  a  reasonable  time  after
 death.
   2.  THE REMAINS RESULTING FROM A SPONTANEOUS FETAL DEATH AT ANY GESTA-
 TIONAL AGE SHALL BE RELEASED TO THE GESTATIONAL PARENT OF THE FETUS UPON
 REQUEST, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION FORTY-ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO OF  THIS
 CHAPTER.  ANY  COSTS  ASSOCIATED WITH THE RELEASE, BURIAL, ENTOMBMENT OR
 CREMATION OF THESE FETAL REMAINS  SHALL  BE  BORNE  BY  THE  GESTATIONAL
 PARENT.
   3.  The provisions of this section shall not impair the right to carry
 the body of a deceased person through this state, or to remove from this
 state the body of a person who has died within it, for  the  purpose  of
 burying the same elsewhere.
   §  4.  Subdivision  1  of  section 1389-dd of the public health law is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
   (E) IN THE CASE OF REMAINS RESULTING FROM SPONTANEOUS FETAL DEATH,  BY
 BURIAL,  ENTOMBMENT  OR  CREMATION  AT  THE  REQUEST  OF THE GESTATIONAL
 PARENT, PURSUANT TO SECTION FORTY-ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO OF THIS CHAPTER.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have  become  a  law.    Effective  immediately, the addition, amendment
 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
 of this act on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to  be  made  and
 completed on or before such date.