Bill Text: NJ A1013 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Count the Kicks" public awareness campaign.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee [A1013 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1013-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman JAY WEBBER
District 26 (Morris and Passaic)
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Count the Kicks" public awareness campaign.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act establishing a "Count the Kicks" public awareness campaign and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Health shall establish a "Count the Kicks" public awareness campaign to educate pregnant women on how to track the movements of their unborn child in the last trimester of pregnancy. The campaign shall, at a minimum, provide information on:
(1) the importance of fetal movement as an indicator of fetal health;
(2) how to monitor and record fetal kick counts in accordance with recommendations by The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; and
(3) the correlation between systematically tracking fetal movement and a decrease in stillbirth.
b. The commissioner shall, at a minimum:
(1) make available electronically on the Department of Health website, in English and Spanish, the information provided by the "Count the Kicks public awareness campaign as described in subsection a. of this section; and
(2) disseminate the information provided by the public awareness campaign for distribution to pregnant women, through a variety of entities, including, but not limited to, local health agencies and clinics, physicians and advanced practice nurses, health care facilities, birthing facilities, licensed child care centers, pharmacies, libraries, local agencies or offices distributing food pursuant to the special supplemental food program for women, infants and children (WIC), established pursuant to Pub.L.95-267 (42 U.S.C. s. 1786); and other community-based outreach programs and organizations.
2. The Commissioner shall report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature no later than 24 months after the effective date of this act, on the activities and accomplishments of the public awareness campaign.
3. The Commissioner of Health, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of
4. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Commissioner of Health to establish a "Count the Kicks" public awareness campaign to educate pregnant women on how to track the movements of their unborn children in the last trimester of pregnancy. The campaign would, at a minimum, provide information on: the importance of fetal movement as an indicator of fetal health; how to monitor and record fetal kick counts in accordance with recommendations by The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; and the correlation between systematically tracking fetal movement and a decrease in stillbirth.
The Commissioner is required to: make, at a minimum: information provided by the "Count the Kicks public awareness available electronically on the Department of Health's website; disseminate the information provided by the public awareness campaign through a variety of entities, including, but not limited to, local health agencies and clinics, physicians and advanced practice nurses, health care facilities, birthing facilities, licensed child care centers, pharmacies, libraries, local agencies and offices distributing food pursuant to the federal WIC program, and other community-based outreach programs and organizations; and report to the Governor and the Legislature concerning the activities and accomplishments of the public awareness campaign within two years of the effective date of the bill.
