HOUSE BILL 196
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009
INTRODUCED BY
Keith J. Gardner
AN ACT
RELATING TO VITAL STATISTICS; REQUIRING REGISTRATION OF FETAL DEATH FOR CERTAIN SPONTANEOUS FETAL DEATHS; PROVIDING FOR CERTIFICATES OF BIRTH RESULTING IN STILLBIRTH; IMPOSING A FEE; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 24-14-22 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1961, Chapter 44, Section 20, as amended) is amended to read:
"24-14-22. REPORTS OF SPONTANEOUS FETAL DEATH.--
[A. Each spontaneous fetal death, where the fetus has a weight of five hundred grams or more, which occurs in this state shall be reported to the state registrar.
B. When a dead fetus is delivered in an institution, the person in charge of the institution or his designated representative shall prepare and file the report.]
A. Each spontaneous fetal death that occurs in this state after the fetus has attained a gestational age of at least twenty weeks, or if gestational age is unknown when the fetus weighs not less than three hundred fifty grams, shall be reported to the state registrar by registration of fetal death with the vital statistics bureau of the department or as the state registrar directs. A fetal death shall be registered within ten days following the spontaneous fetal death.
B. The state registrar shall incorporate registrations of fetal death into the vital records of the vital statistics bureau of the department.
C. When a spontaneous fetal death required to be reported by this section occurs in an institution, the person in charge of the institution or the designated representative of that person shall prepare and register the fetal death on a report of spontaneous fetal death and shall advise the woman who delivered under circumstances where spontaneous fetal death occurred, or her family member, of the option to request a report of spontaneous fetal death and a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth.
[C.] D. When [the] a spontaneous fetal death for which registration of fetal death is required occurs on a moving conveyance and the fetus is first removed from the conveyance in this state [or when a dead fetus is found in this state and the place of fetal death is unknown], the fetal death shall be reported in this state. The place where the fetus was first removed from the conveyance [or the dead fetus was found] shall be considered the place of fetal death.
E. When a spontaneous fetal death required to be reported by this section occurs and the place of the spontaneous fetal death is unknown, the place where the dead fetus was found shall be considered the place of spontaneous fetal death.
[D.] F. When a spontaneous fetal death required to be reported by this section occurs without medical attendance at or immediately after the delivery or when inquiry is required by law, the state medical investigator shall investigate the cause of fetal death and shall prepare and file the report.
[E.] G. The [names] name of the [parents] woman who delivered under circumstances where a fetal death occurred and, if the woman requests it, the name of a family member whom she designates shall be entered on the spontaneous fetal death report in accordance with the provisions of Section 24-14-13 NMSA 1978.
[F. Except as otherwise provided in this section, all spontaneous fetal death reports shall be completed and filed with the state registrar within ten days following the spontaneous fetal death.]
H. When a spontaneous fetal death occurs, the state registrar shall record the name of the fetus upon the registration of fetal death when requested by the woman who delivered under circumstances where the fetal death occurred or when requested by her family member.
I. A delayed registration of fetal death may be filed in accordance with Section 24-14-21 NMSA 1978; provided that the woman who delivered under circumstances where a fetal death occurred, or her family member, may present a copy of the report of spontaneous fetal death, other medical records or an affidavit by the woman's health care provider, who attended the delivery or who has received the woman's medical records as they pertain to the delivery, to substantiate the alleged facts of the spontaneous fetal death as the state registrar establishes by rule.
J. Where the vital statistics bureau of the health services division of the department has in its files a registration of fetal death or receives evidence of a spontaneous fetal death, the state registrar shall produce a copy of a report of spontaneous fetal death upon the request of the woman who delivered under circumstances where a fetal death occurred, or to her family member, without regard to the date on which a report of spontaneous fetal death was filed or when the fetal death was registered.
K. For purposes of this section, "family member" means a spouse, life partner, sibling, grandparent or descendent of a woman who delivered under circumstances where spontaneous fetal death occurred."
Section 2. Section 24-14-29 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1961, Chapter 44, Section 27, as amended) is amended to read:
"24-14-29. FEES FOR COPIES AND SEARCHES.--
A. The fee for each search of a vital record to produce a certified copy of a birth certificate shall be ten dollars ($10.00) and shall include one certified copy of the record, if available.
B. The fee for the establishment of a delayed record or for the revision or amendment of a vital record, as a result of an adoption, a legitimation, a correction or other court-ordered change to a vital record, shall be ten dollars ($10.00). The fee shall include one certified copy of the delayed record.
C. The fee for each search of a vital record to produce a copy of a report of spontaneous fetal death or a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall be five dollars ($5.00) and shall include one certified copy of the record of fetal death, if available.
[C.] D. The fee for each search of a vital record to produce a certified copy of a death certificate shall be five dollars ($5.00) and shall include one certified copy of the record, if available.
[D.] E. Revenue from the fees imposed in this section shall be distributed as follows:
(1) an amount equal to three-fifths of the revenue from the fee imposed by Subsection A of this section, an amount equal to one-half of the revenue from the fee imposed by Subsection B of this section and an amount equal to one-fifth of the revenue from the fee imposed by Subsection [C] D of this section shall be distributed to the day-care fund; and
(2) the remainder of the revenue from the fees imposed by Subsections A, B and [C] D of this section shall be deposited in the state general fund."
Section 3. A new section of the Vital Statistics Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] CERTIFICATES OF BIRTH RESULTING IN STILLBIRTH.--
A. The state registrar shall establish a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. A person required to report and register a spontaneous fetal death shall inform a woman who has delivered under circumstances where fetal death has occurred, or her family member, that the report of spontaneous fetal death and a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth are available from the vital statistics bureau of the department upon request. Upon the request of a woman who delivered under circumstances where fetal death occurred, or her family member, a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall be completed and filed in accordance with Section 24-14-13 NMSA 1978.
B. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section and upon the request of a woman who delivered under circumstances where spontaneous fetal death occurred, or her family member, whose name has been entered on a report of spontaneous fetal death or a registration of fetal death, the state registrar shall issue a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth without regard to the date on which a report of spontaneous fetal death was filed, when the fetal death was registered or when a report of spontaneous fetal death was issued.
C. A certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall include the following information:
(1) the sex of the stillborn fetus;
(2) the vital statistics record number;
(3) the date and time of delivery;
(4) the location of the delivery, including the county, municipality and the hospital's or other location's street address;
(5) the name of the medical doctor or midwife who attended the delivery, if any;
(6) the full name, birth date and birthplace of the woman who delivered under circumstances where a fetal death occurred;
(7) the current residential address and, if different, mailing address of the woman who delivered under circumstances where a fetal death occurred; and
(8) the sentence: "THIS CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH RESULTING IN STILLBIRTH IS NOT EVIDENCE OF A LIVE BIRTH.".
D. Upon the request of the woman who delivered under circumstances where a fetal death occurred, the certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall include the following information:
(1) a name for the fetus delivered under circumstances where the fetal death occurred; or
(2) the name of the spouse or life partner of the woman who delivered under circumstances where the fetal death occurred.
E. A certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall not be used to calculate live birth statistics.
F. For purposes of this section, "family member" means a spouse, life partner, sibling, grandparent or descendent of a woman who delivered under circumstances where spontaneous fetal death occurred."
- 8 -