Hawaii-2022-HR53-Introduced

WHEREAS, according to the Department of Health, all products of conception require the reporting of either a fetal death or a live birth in the State; and

WHEREAS, birth certificates are not issued for stillbirths in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, United States Standard of Certificates of Birth, Death, and Fetal Death are mandated by federal law; and

WHEREAS, under the National Center for Health Statistics, reports of fetal deaths (US Standard Report of Fetal Death) are completed separately from certificates of birth (U.S. Standard Certificate of Live Birth) and certificates of death (U.S. Standard Certificate of Death); and

WHEREAS, United States vital statistics are collected and published through a decentralized, cooperative system; and

WHEREAS, in the United States, there is no federal birth registry, rather birth certificates are issued by the states, which are obligated under law to report annual vital statistics data to the federal government; and

WHEREAS, there is not a required standard birth certificate document that states must issue to individuals, and as such, states may produce their own birth certificate documents for distribution to individuals; and

WHEREAS, some states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, issue certificates of stillbirth; and

WHEREAS, it is appropriate and necessary to issue birth certificates for stillbirths in the State for several factors, including:

(1) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stillbirth affects one in one hundred sixty births, and each year about twenty-four thousand babies are stillborn in the United States, the number of which affects a significant number of lives;

(2) The sheer number of stillbirths in the United States has a profound and long-lasting impact on bereaved parents, health care professionals, and loved ones;

(3) According to a November 18, 2021, journal article, "Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, and OCD After Stillbirth: A Systematic Review", by the National Institutes of Health, parents who experience stillbirth have a considerably higher risk of reporting symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD compared with parents with live births;

(4) The experiences, process, and connection of parents to their unborn child through pregnancy and sometimes labor, delivery, and birth are the same for liveborn infants and stillborn infants;

(5) Having only a certificate of fetal death is a constant reminder of the death of a child, rather than the duration of life of a child; and

(6) A certificate of stillbirth would acknowledge and respect the existence of life and how fleeting it can sometimes be to the baby, parents, and loved ones; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Department of Health is requested to issue certificates of stillbirth; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to issue a certificate of stillbirth to the parent or parents named on a fetal death certificate issued in the case of a stillbirth, upon request of the parent or parents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to assess the feasibility of issuing certificates of stillbirths in the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, regarding the implementation of certificates of stillbirths in the State, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Department of Health; Certificates of Stillbirth

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	53
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII