BILL NUMBER: SB 850 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 661
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 13, 2007
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 13, 2007
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 5, 2007
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 13, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 21, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Senators Maldonado and Correa
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act to amend Sections 100430 and 102950 of, and to add Article
4.5 (commencing with Section 103040) to Chapter 7 of Part 1 of
Division 102 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to vital
records.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 850, Maldonado. Vital statistics: Certificate of Still birth.
Existing law requires the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, to
administer the registration of births, deaths, fetal deaths, and
marriages. Existing law requires that each fetal death in which the
fetus has advanced to or beyond the 20th week of uterogestation to be
registered with the local registrar of births and deaths of the
district in which the fetal death was officially pronounced within 8
calendar days following the event and prior to any disposition of the
fetus.
This bill would specify that those provisions shall not apply to
the termination of a pregnancy performed in compliance with a
prescribed law governing reproductive privacy. The bill would further
enact the Missing Angels Act, which would require the local
registrar of births and deaths of the county in which a fetal death,
in which the fetus has advanced to or beyond the 20th week of
uterogestation, is registered, to issue, upon request, to the father
or mother, a Certificate of Still Birth on a form prescribed by the
State Registrar of Vital Statistics. The bill would define stillbirth
for this purpose to be delivery of a fetus where there was a
naturally occurring intrauterine fetal death that occurred after a
gestational age of not less than 20 weeks. The bill would prescribe
information to be contained in a Certificate of Still Birth. The bill
would authorize the state registrar to charge a fee for processing
and issuing a Certificate of Still Birth, not to exceed the agency's
costs, and not to exceed $20 adjusted annually as prescribed. The
bill would authorize a local registrar of births and deaths to charge
an appropriate fee for the processing and issuance of a certificate
not to exceed that agency's cost of processing and issuing a
certificate. By imposing a new requirement on local registrars of
births and deaths, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 100430 of the Health and Safety Code, as
amended by Section 39 of Chapter 816 of the Statutes of 2006, is
amended to read:
100430. (a) (1) The fees or charges for a record search or for
the issuance of any license, permit, registration, or any other
document pursuant to Section 26832 or 26840 of the Government Code,
or Section 102525, 102625, 102670, 102725, 102750, 103040.1, 103050,
103065, 103225, 103325, 103400, 103425, 103450, 103525, 103590,
103625, 103650, 103675, 103690, 103695, 103700, 103705, 103710,
103715, 103720, 103725, or 103735 of this code, may be adjusted
annually by the percentage change determined pursuant to Section
100425.
(2) The base amount to be adjusted shall be the statutory base
amount of the fee or charge plus the sum of the prior adjustments to
the statutory base amount. Whenever the statutory base amount is
amended, the base amount shall be the new statutory base amount plus
the sum of adjustments to the new statutory base amount calculated
subsequent to the statutory base amendment. The actual dollar fee or
charge shall be rounded to the next highest whole dollar.
(b) Beginning January 1, 1983, the department shall annually
publish a list of the actual numerical fee charges as adjusted
pursuant to this section. This adjustment of fees and the publication
of the fee list shall not be subject to the requirements of Chapter
3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title
2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 2. Section 102950 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
102950. (a) Each fetal death in which the fetus has advanced to
or beyond the 20th week of uterogestation shall be registered with
the local registrar of births and deaths of the district in which the
fetal death was officially pronounced within eight calendar days
following the event and prior to any disposition of the fetus.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to the termination of a
pregnancy performed in compliance with Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 123460) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106.
SEC. 3. Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 103040) is added to
Chapter 7 of Part 1 of Division 102 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
Article 4.5. Missing Angels Act
103040. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Missing
Angels Act.
103040.1. (a) The local registrar of births and deaths of the
county in which a fetal death, in which the fetus has advanced beyond
the 20th week of uterogestation, is registered, shall issue, upon
the request of the mother or father of the fetus, a Certificate of
Still Birth, on a form approved by the State Registrar of Vital
Statistics for each naturally occurring intrauterine fetal death
after a gestational age of not less than 20 completed weeks.
(b) A Certificate of Still Birth issued pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall, except as otherwise set forth in this section, comply with
all of the format requirements governing a certificate for a live
birth contained in Article 2 (commencing with Section 102425). The
Certificate of Still Birth shall be in addition to and shall not
replace the fetal death certificate issued pursuant to Article 1
(commencing with Section 102950).
(c) The request for a Certificate of Still Birth shall be on a
form prescribed by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.
(d) The Certificate of Still Birth shall be on a form prescribed
by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and shall only contain the
following information taken from the fetal death certificate:
(1) The date of the stillbirth.
(2) The county in which the stillbirth occurred.
(3) The name of and sex of the stillborn fetus, as provided on the
original or amended fetal death certificate.
(4) The time and place of stillbirth, including the street address
and city, and, if applicable, the name of the hospital.
(5) The names, date of birth, and state of birth of the mother and
father.
(6) The corresponding file number of the final fetal death
certificate.
(7) A title at the top of the Certificate of Still Birth that
reads: Certificate of Still Birth.
(8) A statement at the bottom of the Certificate of Still Birth
that states: This Certificate of Still Birth is not proof of a live
birth.
(e) The State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall not use the
information included on a Certificate of Still Birth for any
governmental purpose other than to respond to the request for the
certificate from the persons identified in subdivision (a).
(f) The State Registrar of Vital Statistics may charge an
appropriate fee for processing and issuing a Certificate of Still
Birth. The fee shall cover, but shall not exceed, the entity's full
cost of providing the certificate. During the 2007-08 fiscal year,
the fee shall not exceed twenty dollars ($20), thereafter, the fee
may be adjusted annually pursuant to Section 100430. The local
registrar of births and deaths may charge an appropriate fee for the
processing and issuing of a Certificate of Live Birth, not to exceed
the entity's full cost of providing the certificate.
(g) The State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall issue a
Certificate of Still Birth upon request regardless of the date on
which the certificate of fetal death was issued.
(h) This section shall not be used to establish, bring, or support
a civil cause of action seeking damages against any person or entity
for bodily injury, personal injury, or wrongful death for a
stillbirth.
(i) For the purposes of this section, "stillbirth" as recorded in
the Certificate of Still Birth means the delivery of a fetus where
there was a naturally occurring intrauterine fetal death after a
gestational age of not less than 20 completed weeks.
(j) This section shall not supercede any other provision of law.
The terms and conditions contained in this section shall only apply
to this section, and shall not affect the definition, use, meaning,
or intent of those terms as they may appear in any other statute,
California case law, or the California Constitution. Other than
prescribing the right to request a Certificate of Still Birth,
nothing in this section shall be construed to create any new right,
privilege, or entitlement, or to abrogate any existing right,
privilege, or entitlement.
(k) Through its courts, statutes, and under its Constitution,
California law protects a woman's right to reproductive privacy, and
it is the intent of the Legislature to reaffirm these protections in
accordance with the California Supreme Court's decision in People v.
Belous (1969) 71 Cal.2d 954, 966-968.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.