STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1351 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 9, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. GONZALEZ-ROJAS, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, SEAWRIGHT, REYES, SHIMSKY, FORREST, LEVENBERG, SEPTIMO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to certification of fetal death certificates by a midwife or physician assistant The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 4161 of the public health law, as amended by chap- 2 ter 436 of the laws of 1967, the section heading and subdivisions 2 and 3 3 as amended by chapter 153 of the laws of 2011, subdivisions 1 and 4 as 4 amended by chapter 352 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 § 4161. Fetal death certificates; form and content[; physicians, nurse 7 practitioners, midwives, and hospital administrators]. 1. The certif- 8 icate of fetal death and the report of fetal death shall contain such 9 information and be in such form as the commissioner may prescribe; 10 provided however that commencing on or after the implementation date 11 under section forty-one hundred forty-eight of this article, information 12 and signatures required by this subdivision shall be obtained and made 13 in accordance with section forty-one hundred forty-eight of this arti- 14 cle, except that unless requested by the [woman] birthing parent neither 15 the certificate nor the report of fetal death shall contain the name of 16 the [woman] birthing parent, [her] the birthing parent's social security 17 number or any other information which would permit [her] the birthing 18 parent to be identified except as provided in this subdivision. The 19 report shall state that a certificate of fetal death was filed with the 20 commissioner and the date of such filing. The commissioner shall develop 21 a unique, confidential identifier to be used on the certificate of fetal 22 death to be used in connection with the exercise of the commissioner's 23 authority to monitor the quality of care provided by any individual or 24 entity licensed to perform an abortion in this state and to permit coor- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03295-01-5
A. 1351 2 1 dination of data concerning the medical history of the [woman] the 2 birthing parent for purposes of conducting surveillance scientific 3 studies and research pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (j) of 4 subdivision one of section two hundred six of this chapter. 5 2. In each case where a physician [or], nurse practitioner, midwife, 6 or physician assistant was in attendance at or after a fetal death, it 7 is the duty of such [physician or nurse] practitioner to certify to the 8 birth and to the cause of death on the fetal death certificate. [Where a 9 nurse-midwife was in attendance at a fetal death it is the duty of such 10 nurse-midwife to certify to the birth but, he or she shall not certify 11 to the cause of death on the fetal death certificate.] 12 3. Fetal deaths occurring without the attendance of a [physician or 13 nurse] practitioner as provided in subdivision two of this section shall 14 be treated as deaths without medical attendance, as provided in this 15 article. 16 4. When a fetal death occurs in a hospital, except in those cases 17 where certificates are issued by coroners or medical examiners, the 18 person in charge of such hospital or [his or her] such person's desig- 19 nated representative shall promptly present the certificate to the 20 physician [or], nurse practitioner, midwife, or physician assistant in 21 attendance, or a physician [or], nurse practitioner, midwife, or physi- 22 cian assistant acting [in his or her] on such practitioner's behalf, who 23 shall promptly certify to the facts of birth and of fetal death, provide 24 the medical information required by the certificate, sign the medical 25 certificate of birth and death, and thereupon return such certificate to 26 such person, so that the seventy-two hour registration time limit 27 prescribed in section four thousand one hundred sixty of this title can 28 be met; provided, however that commencing on or after the implementation 29 date under section forty-one hundred forty-eight of this article, infor- 30 mation and signatures required by this subdivision shall be obtained and 31 made in accordance with section forty-one hundred forty-eight of this 32 article. 33 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.