Bill Text: IL SB3182 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Hospital Licensing Act. Provides that a hospital having custody of a fetus following a spontaneous fetal death occurring during or after a gestation period of at least 20 completed weeks must notify the gestational parent of the parent's right to receive a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. Amends the Vital Records Act. Provides that after each fetal death that occurs in the State after a gestation period of at least 20 (rather than 26) completed weeks, or in cases where gestational age is uncertain, where the fetus weighs at least 350 grams, the person who files a fetal death certificate shall also prepare a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. Requires the person who files a fetal death certificate to notify the gestational parent of the stillborn of that parent's right to request and receive a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 21-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-08-09 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-0948 [SB3182 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3182-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by
changing Section 11.4 and by adding Section 11.9 as follows:
(210 ILCS 85/11.4)
Sec. 11.4. Disposition of fetus. A hospital having custody
of a fetus following a spontaneous fetal demise occurring
during or after a gestation period of less than 20 completed
weeks must notify the patient of the mother of her right to
arrange for the burial or cremation of the fetus. Notification
may also include other options such as, but not limited to, a
ceremony, a certificate, or common burial or cremation of
fetal tissue. If, within 24 hours after being notified under
this Section, the patient mother elects in writing to arrange
for the burial or cremation of the fetus, the disposition of
the fetus shall be subject to the same laws and rules that
apply in the case of a fetal death that occurs in this State
after a gestation period of 20 completed weeks or more. The
Department of Public Health shall develop forms to be used for
notifications and elections under this Section and hospitals
shall provide the forms to the patient mother.
(Source: P.A. 96-338, eff. 1-1-10.)

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(210 ILCS 85/11.9 new)
Sec. 11.9. Certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth;
notification. This Section may be referred to as Liam's Law.
A hospital having custody of a fetus following a
spontaneous fetal death occurring during or after a gestation
period of at least 20 completed weeks must notify the
gestational parent of the parent's right to receive a
certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth as described in
Section 20.5 of the Vital Records Act. The Department of
Public Health shall develop language on a form to be used for
notification under this Section and hospitals shall provide
the form to the gestational parent. This section of language
shall be known as a "Liam's Law notice". The "Liam's Law
notice" shall be available in both English and Spanish.
Section 10. The Vital Records Act is amended by changing
Sections 20 and 20.5 as follows:
(410 ILCS 535/20) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-20)
Sec. 20. Fetal death; place of registration.
(1) Each fetal death which occurs in this State after a
gestation period of 20 completed weeks (or and when the
patient mother elects in writing to arrange for the burial or
cremation of the fetus under Section 11.4 of the Hospital
Licensing Act) or more shall be registered with the local or

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subregistrar of the district in which the delivery occurred
within 7 days after the delivery and before removal of the
fetus from the State, except as provided by regulation in
special problem cases.
(a) For the purposes of this Section, if the place of
fetal death is unknown, a fetal death certificate shall be
filed in the registration district in which a dead fetus
is found, which shall be considered the place of fetal
death.
(b) When a fetal death occurs on a moving conveyance,
the city, village, township, or road district in which the
fetus is first removed from the conveyance shall be
considered the place of delivery and a fetal death
certificate shall be filed in the registration district in
which the place is located.
(c) The funeral director or person acting as such who
first assumes custody of a fetus shall file the
certificate. The personal data shall be obtained from the
best qualified person or source available. The name,
relationship, and address of the informant shall be
entered on the certificate. The date, place, and method of
final disposition of the fetus shall be recorded over the
personal signature and address of the funeral director
responsible for the disposition. The certificate shall be
presented to the person responsible for completing the
medical certification of the cause of death.

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(2) The medical certification shall be completed and
signed within 24 hours after delivery by the certifying health
care professional in attendance at or after delivery, except
when investigation is required under Division 3-3 of Article 3
of the Counties Code and except as provided by regulation in
special problem cases.
(3) When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance
upon the mother at or after the delivery, or when
investigation is required under Division 3-3 of Article 3 of
the Counties Code, the coroner shall be responsible for the
completion of the fetal death certificate and shall sign the
medical certification within 24 hours after the delivery or
the finding of the fetus, except as provided by regulation in
special problem cases.
(Source: P.A. 102-257, eff. 1-1-22.)
(410 ILCS 535/20.5)
Sec. 20.5. Certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth.
(a) The State Registrar shall prescribe and distribute a
form for a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. The
certificate shall be in the same format as a certificate of
live birth prepared under Section 12 and shall be filed in the
same manner as a certificate of live birth.
(b) After each fetal death that occurs in this State after
a gestation period of at least 20 completed weeks, the State
Registrar of Vital Records shall, only upon request by a

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parent named on the fetal death certificate, prepare and issue
a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. After each
fetal death that occurs in this State after a gestation period
of at least 26 completed weeks, the person who files a fetal
death certificate in connection with that death as required
under Section 20 shall, only upon request by the woman who
delivered the stillborn fetus, also prepare a certificate of
stillbirth. The person shall prepare the certificate on the
form prescribed and furnished by the State Registrar and in
accordance with the rules adopted by the State Registrar.
(b-5) A person who files a fetal death certificate as
described under subsection (b) shall notify the gestational
parent of the stillborn of that parent's right to request and
receive a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth under
subsection (b). The Department shall develop language for
notification under this subsection. This language shall be
titled and known as a "Liam's Law notice".
(c) If the stillborn's parent or parents do not wish to
provide a name for the stillborn, the person who prepares the
certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall leave blank
any references to the stillborn's name.
(d) When a stillbirth occurs in this State and the
stillbirth has not been registered within one year after the
delivery, a certificate marked "delayed" may be filed and
registered in accordance with regulations adopted by the State
Registrar. The certificate must show on its face the date of

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registration.
(e) In the case of a fetal death that occurred in this
State after a gestation period of at least 20 26 completed
weeks and before the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 103rd General Assembly this amendatory Act of the 93rd
General Assembly, a parent of the stillborn child may request
that the person who filed a fetal death certificate in
connection with that death as required under Section 20 shall
also prepare a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth
with respect to the fetus. If a parent of a stillborn makes
such a request under this subsection (e), the person who filed
a fetal death certificate shall prepare the certificate of
birth resulting in stillbirth and file it with the designated
registrar within 30 days after the request by the parent.
(Source: P.A. 93-578, eff. 8-21-03.)