A00611 Summary:
| BILL NO | A00611 |
| SAME AS | SAME AS S00230 |
| SPONSOR | Eichenstein |
| COSPNSR | |
| MLTSPNSR | |
| Amd §§4160, 4162, 4200 & 1389-dd, Pub Health L | |
| Relates to the disposition of fetal remains. | |
A00611 Text:
Go to topSTATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 611 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (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: 1 Section 1. Section 4160 of the public health law, as amended by chap- 2 ter 436 of the laws of 1967, subdivision 2 as amended and subdivisions 4 3 and 5 as added by chapter 809 of the laws of 1987 and subdivision 3 as 4 amended by chapter 552 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 § 4160. Fetal deaths; registration. 1. Fetal death is defined as death 7 prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its [mother] gesta- 8 tional parent of a product of conception; the death is indicated by the 9 fact that after such separation, the fetus does not breathe or show any 10 other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the 11 umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles. 12 2. A fetal death shall be registered within seventy-two hours after 13 expulsion of [such fetus] a fetus of any gestational age, by filing 14 directly with the commissioner a certificate of such death. In addition, 15 a report of fetal death shall be reported to the registrar in the 16 district in which the fetal death occurred. 17 3. In the case of a spontaneous fetal death at any gestational age, 18 the attending physician or a person designated by the hospital shall 19 ensure that the gestational parent of the fetus is informed of the right 20 to access the report of fetal death and to direct either burial, entomb- 21 ment or cremation of the fetal remains. 22 4. For the purposes of this article, a fetal death shall be considered 23 as a birth and as a death except that, for a fetal death, separate birth 24 and death certificates shall not be required to be prepared and 25 recorded, except as provided in section forty-one hundred sixty-a of 26 this title. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00875-01-5A. 611 2 1 [4.] 5. Local registrars of each district in which fetal death certif- 2 icates were filed prior to the effective date of this subdivision shall 3 dispose of such certificates in the manner prescribed by the commission- 4 er. 5 [5.] 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the 6 disclosure of information filed pursuant to this section shall be limit- 7 ed to the [mother] gestational parent, [her] the gestational parent's 8 lawful representative and to authorized personnel of the department. 9 § 2. Section 4162 of the public health law, as amended by chapter 809 10 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as follows: 11 § 4162. Fetal deaths; burial and removal; permits. 1. The remains 12 resulting from a spontaneous fetal death at any gestational age shall be 13 released to the gestational parent of the fetus upon request and upon 14 issuance of a permit pursuant to subdivision three of this section. 15 2. A permit shall be required for the removal, transportation, burial 16 or other disposition of remains resulting from a fetal death, other than 17 fetal tissue, hydatidiform mole or other evidence of pregnancy recovered 18 by curettage or operative procedures or other products of conception of 19 under twenty weeks uterogestation. 20 [2.] 3. Such permit shall be issued by the local registrar of the 21 district in which the fetal death occurred upon presentation by the 22 funeral director or the gestational parent of the fetus of a report of 23 fetal death, on the form prescribed by the commissioner. The issuance of 24 such permit shall be subject to the provisions of title IV of this arti- 25 cle. 26 4. The physician or a person designated by a hospital shall ensure 27 that the gestational parent of the fetus is informed both orally and in 28 writing about the right to access the report of fetal death and to 29 direct either burial, entombment or cremation of the fetal remains. 30 § 3. Section 4200 of the public health law, subdivision 1 as amended 31 by chapter 34 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows: 32 § 4200. Cadavers; duty of burial. 1. Except in the cases in which a 33 right to dissect it is expressly conferred by law, every body of a 34 deceased person, within this state, shall be decently buried, naturally 35 organically reduced, or incinerated within a reasonable time after 36 death. 37 2. The remains resulting from a spontaneous fetal death at any gesta- 38 tional age shall be released to the gestational parent of the fetus upon 39 request, in accordance with section forty-one hundred sixty-two of this 40 chapter. Any costs associated with the release, burial, entombment or 41 cremation of these fetal remains shall be borne by the gestational 42 parent. 43 3. The provisions of this section shall not impair the right to carry 44 the body of a deceased person through this state, or to remove from this 45 state the body of a person who has died within it, for the purpose of 46 burying the same elsewhere. 47 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 1389-dd of the public health law is 48 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows: 49 (e) In the case of remains resulting from spontaneous fetal death, by 50 burial, entombment or cremation at the request of the gestational 51 parent, pursuant to section forty-one hundred sixty-two of this chapter. 52 § 5. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 53 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment 54 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation 55 of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 56 completed on or before such date.