New York lawmakers pushing for stillborn-certificate bill

While the concept may seem noncontroversial, it has become a lightning rod for debate in New York and around the country because abortion-rights advocates fear that giving a fetus "personhood" could fuel the anti-abortion agenda.

Proponents of the new measure in New York, which would let parents get a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth, said that is not the case.

"I am about as adamant about protecting reproductive choice as anyone," said Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, who helped craft a compromise bill to replace one that had languished for years. "I am quite confident that this bill does not in any way even come close to treating a fetus as a 'person.'"

A stillbirth is an unintended death of a fetus 20 weeks or more. Women often carry babies to full term, only to learn at the last minute that they lost the child. There are about 2,000 stillbirths in New York each year.

Grassroots groups led by parents of stillborns say they want a certificate that acknowledges they gave birth and includes a name, not just certificates of fetal death that say "baby girl" or "baby boy."

Current state law says a fetal death shall be considered as a birth and as a death, but separate birth and death certificates are not required. Health departments almost never issue certificates for stillbirths, said Gottfried, who opposed the previous version of the bill.

"There is no hidden agenda. The only agenda is that we want to pass this bill. We want recognition for our children," said 34-year-old Jeff Tieger of Staten Island, whose wife, Lori, gave birth to a stillborn Feb. 8 at 39 weeks' gestation. They named him Daniel and have set up a foundation to raise money for research and education on stillbirths.

"It's not a political issue. It's an emotional issue," he said.

The revised bill states that a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth is not proof of a live birth. It uses the words "stillborn fetus" and not "stillborn child," as the old version did.

It would require the state Health Department to develop the certificate, with information similar to what is on a birth certificate. Parents would be notified about the option to get such a certificate, and they could not be charged more than for certificates of live birth or fetal death. Anyone who has ever had a stillbirth would be eligible for the certificate.

JoAnn Smith, president and CEO of Family Planning Advocates, said the reproductive-rights group does not have a position on the bill but is not opposing it.

The MISS (or Mothers in Sympathy and Support) Foundation, which maintains a state-by-state chart on legislation, said 20 states offer the special certificate. Six states enacted laws since June 2006. Bills are pending in several states, including California and Rhode Island.

A number of states issue certificates of stillbirth, which advocates consider less preferable.

The Tiegers have been working with their assemblywoman, Janele Hyer-Spencer, D-Staten Island, who is sponsoring the bill in the Democrat-controlled Assembly. Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun, R-Blooming Grove, Orange County, has carried the bill for many years and co-sponsors the revised version.

"With about 14 days remaining (in the session,) I am incredibly confident it will pass this year," said Hyer-Spencer, a freshman lawmaker who supports abortion rights.

Calhoun said people have come together across party lines this year to work on the bill, and she's "very optimistic" that it will pass.

The Assembly bill is scheduled to be voted out of Gottfried's Health Committee on Tuesday. Sen. William Larkin, R-New Windsor, Orange County, is the lead Senate sponsor. His bill has been on the floor calendar in the GOP-led Senate and was amended to match Hyer-Spencer's.

Larkin, who opposes abortion, said he has heard from many parents who want the right to a special certificate.

"The main theme here is to come to closure. A woman carried a child for X number of weeks. It was stillborn. They don't use the word stilldeath. They use the word stillborn," he said.

Beth Maier of Highland, Ulster County, said the legislation would ensure that her daughter, Elizabeth, was recognized as a person she gave birth to, with the dignity of a name. It's just as important for the state to recognize April 8, 2005, as Elizabeth's birthday as it is to mark it as the day she died, she said.