House approves issuing birth certificates for stillborn babies

PROVIDENCE — It would have been easy to miss Richard Silva at the General Assembly last night.

He was the silver-haired man looking down on the House of Representatives from the East Gallery, a seating area usually occupied by tourists and lobbyists. He stood as legislators debated House Bill 5086, a law he hoped would bring closure to his family more than two years after his grandson died suddenly just before birth.

The stern-faced Silva cracked a smile as the House voted unanimously to approve the bill allowing state officials to issue a “certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth” to his son and daughter-in-law, proof of Christopher Michael Silva’s existence.

“We have pictures of the baby. We all got to hold him,” Silva said after the vote. Had Christopher Michael Silva taken even one breath out of the womb, the state would have issued a birth certificate. He did not. And in the eyes of Rhode Island law, the baby did not exist.

It appears that may change this legislative session.

The House passed the measure following a passionate debate that brought together the polar opposites of Rhode Island’s abortion dispute. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill today.

If passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, the law would allow the parents of stillborns at 20 weeks of gestation or more to request birth certificates. There were 85 such fetal deaths in Rhode Island in 2005, the most recent data available from the state Health Department.

The Silvas were guided in their two-year quest to change Rhode Island law by the MISS Foundation, an Arizona-based organization accused by the National Organization for Women of trying to establish “fetal personhood” on behalf of abortion opponents.

The MISS Foundation’s Web site offers families of stillborns a template letter for lawmakers, tips for effective communication and talking points. The head of the organization denies connections to either side of the abortion debate.

The foundation has successfully worked with lawmakers and families of stillborns to pass stillborn birth certificate legislation in more than a dozen states, according to the National Conference for State Legislatures. The group was not mentioned in yesterday’s debate.

“I’m probably the most pro-life person in this room,” said Arthur J. Corvese, D-North Providence, during the House debate. “This is not the time or the bill for the debate about pro-life.”

And although she described herself as “probably the most pro-choice person in this House,” Rep. Edith H. Ajello, D-Providence, agreed. She joined every other legislator in supporting the bill, but successfully pushed for an amendment clarifying that the law applied only to “natural occurring death,” not abortions.

“In no way was it my intent or the family’s intent to get an upper hand” in the abortion debate, said bill sponsor Jan Malik, D-Warren. “At this time, I’m going to ask both sides to stand down …and help families get some closure.”

Richard Silva was still standing as legislators applauded Malik’s comments.

“This is quite an accomplishment,” Silva said after the vote, adding that the rest of Christopher Michael’s family planned to attend today’s Senate session. “This will bring closure — at least a little.”