Birth certificates for stillborns gain new backer

ALBANY-- A bill to provide parents of stillborns with certificates of birth, instead of just documents certifying fetal death, has found a supporter in a key assemblyman who previously opposed the measure.

Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, said last year he was against the measure because issuing a birth certificate for a stillbirth would not change "the tragedy of a stillbirth" and government documents should be accurate. After receiving numerous letters, e-mails and calls, and meeting recently with several parents who had stillbirths, he agreed to help them get legislation passed.

A national movement to provide birth certificates for stillborns, which parents say helps with their grieving process, has met with opposition in several states, including New York, because of concerns it would assign personhood to a fetus and could lead to an erosion of women's reproductive rights.

"(Gottfried) decided that if this is something that can help grieving parents get through the process of grieving, that he'd like to help them do that," said Lara Kassel, a staffer for Gottfried, who was out of the country Friday.

He has agreed to rewrite the bill "to the comfort of everyone involved" and is getting comment from outside groups to make sure it's "clinically accurate and legally sound," she said. It will not move forward otherwise.

Gottfried, a strong abortion rights supporter, won't lend his name as official sponsor of the bill. The Democrat-led Assembly is looking for a sponsor.

The National Stillbirth Foundation and the M.I.S.S. Foundation, which stands for Mothers in Sympathy and Support, have a nationwide campaign to give bereaved parents the choice of getting a special birth certificate. Twenty states have passed legislation -- often referred to as the "missing angels" act -- to allow this, up from 12 a year ago. Alaska is expected to join them this month, said Joanne Cacciatore of Arizona, who had a stillbirth in 1994 and started the M.I.S.S. Foundation.

A stillbirth, defined as an unintended death of a fetus 20 weeks or more, occurs in one out of 115 pregnancies, according to the National Stillbirth Society. More than 2,000 of the approximately 26,000 stillbirths nationwide each year occur in New York. The state allows abortions up to 24 weeks, and beyond that if a woman's life is in jeopardy.

Groups and parents pushing for the certificates say their movement has nothing to do with being pro-life or pro-choice. It's about parents who carry babies for months, often to full term, only to learn at the very end that they lost a child, they say.

"This is about doing what's right for women and their families. This is not about special-interest groups. This is not about manipulating the system," said Cacciatore, adding that she's glad there's an "open dialogue" in New York now.

Reproductive rights have been a concern in a number of states that have adopted laws, Cacciatore said. The laws refer to unintentional or naturally occurring stillbirths. The word "fetus" can be used in the bill language, and the certificate can say "this is not proof of live birth," she said.

Family Planning Advocates, an advocacy group that represents New York's Planned Parenthood affiliates, had no comment on the issue, spokeswoman Susan Pedo said.

The New York Civil Liberties Union did not respond to a request for comment. The group was quoted in People magazine in December as saying it would be uncomfortable with the wording "death of an unborn child" in legislation because "a child would have rights independent of the mother." It would prefer the word "fetus."

In New York, Republicans have sponsored the legislation in both houses. State Sen. William Larkin, R-New Windsor, Orange County, has been its champion in the GOP- controlled Senate. He could not be reached for comment Friday. It has been stalled in Gottfried's Health Committee in the Democrat-led Assembly, where state Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun, R-Blooming Grove, Orange County, has sponsored it.

Kassel said Gottfried doesn't want to "upset the delicate balance of maintaining reproductive rights" in the state. He is aware advocates don't have that on their agenda, she said.

Calhoun said she believes the new legislation will go forward with bipartisan support once a Democratic sponsor takes it on, she said.

"We're looking to give comfort, compassion. It costs us nothing," she added.

Jeff and Lori Tieger of Staten Island were among parents who met with Gottfried last month. On Feb. 8, Lori Tieger gave birth at 39 weeks to a stillborn boy, Daniel, who was 8 pounds 10 ounces. The pregnancy had been healthy and "uneventful," said Jeff Tieger, 34.

"A certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth really acknowledges the existence of this person whom so many people have lost," Jeff Tieger said.

Vivian Nania of Newburgh, who had a stillborn baby girl at Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie in July 2004, said it's hard for her to understand all the politics behind the issue. She recently received a birth certificate for her 2-month-old son, Andrew, and would like a similar acknowledgement for Angel Marie. Nania, 35, has two older boys, 22 months and 6.

"It's an acknowledgement of her birth. Yes, I know, I saw her, I gave birth to her. It's an acknowledgement and probably a closure at the same time,"Nania said.

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