CHAPTER 195

(SB 206)

Certificates of birth.

         ENTITLED, An Act to  permit and provide for the issuance of certificates of birth resulting in stillbirth.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:

     Section  1.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     Terms used in this Act mean:

             (1)    "Stillbirth," any intrauterine fetal death occurring in this state after a gestational age of not less than twenty completed weeks; and

             (2)    "Certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth," a certificate issued to record the birth of a stillborn child.

     Section  2.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     Any person who is required to file a fetal death report pursuant to §  34-25-32.2 shall advise the parent or parents of a stillborn child:

             (1)    That a parent may, but is not required to, request a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth by contacting the Department of Health to request the certificate and paying the required fee; and

             (2)    The means by which a parent may contact the Department of Health to request the certificate.

     Section  3.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     Any parent may provide a name for a stillborn child on the request for a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. If the requesting parent does not wish to provide a name, the Department of Health shall fill in the certificate with the name "baby boy" or "baby girl" and the last name of the parent.

     Section  4.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     Any certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall include information referencing the corresponding fetal death report.

     Section  5.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     The Department of Health shall prescribe the form and content of a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth and shall specify the information necessary to prepare the certificate.

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     Section  6.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     The Department of Health may not use a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth to calculate live birth statistics.

     Section  7.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     Each applicant for a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall submit a ten dollar fee to the Department of Health for the preparation and filing of the record.

     Section  8.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     Any parent may request the Department of Health to issue a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth without regard to the date on which the fetal death report was filed.

     Section  9.  That chapter 34-25 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

     Any parent may request the Department of Health to prepare and issue a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth without regard to whether the fetal death occurred on, before, or after the effective date of this Act.

     Section  10.  That § 34-25-24 be amended to read as follows:

     34-25-24.   No body of any person whose death occurs in this state or which is found in this state or of a fetus weighing five hundred grams or more after a gestational age of not less than twenty completed weeks may be interred, deposited in a vault or tomb, cremated, or otherwise disposed of, or removed from the state unless, prior to the disposition, a permit for disposition is obtained electronically from the department or on paper from the registrar of the registration district in which the death, or fetal death occurred or the body was found.

     Section  11.  That § 34-25-32.1 be amended to read as follows:

     34-25-32.1.   A fetal death report for the death of each fetus which weighs five hundred grams or more has attained a gestational age of not less than twenty completed weeks and which is not an abortion and reportable as such under chapter 34-23A which occurs in this state shall be filed with the Department of Health, in accordance with rules of the secretary of health promulgated pursuant to chapter 1-26. However, the five hundred grams weight gestational age specified by this section may not be considered a factor in determining when life begins.

     Signed March 3, 2007

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