SENATE HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND SENIOR CITIZENS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 2843

 

with committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  JUNE 13, 2013

 

      The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee reports favorably and with amendments Senate Bill No. 2843.

      As amended, this bill, designated the “Autumn Joy Stillbirth Research and Dignity Act,” requires the establishment of policies and procedures that will ensure the dignified and sensitive management of each stillbirth and of a family’s grieving process following a stillbirth.  The bill further requires that complete autopsy information related to stillbirths that occur in the State be collected and reported to the Department of Health (DOH), and requires that a database be established for research purposes in order to advance the goal of preventing and reducing the incidence of stillbirths. 

      Specifically, the bill directs the Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the State Board of Medical Examiners, State Board of Nursing, State Board of Psychological Examiners, and State Board of Social Work Examiners, to develop policies to ensure that families experiencing a stillbirth receive psychological and emotional support.  In addition, the bill requires that the significance of autopsies be discussed with the family and requires the establishment of evaluation protocol to incorporate best practices for a thorough evaluation of a stillborn child.  The bill requires that DOH establish evaluation protocol to ensure that comprehensive data are collected in a consistent manner and reported to DOH.  This aspect of the bill is informed by practices required by the Iowa Department Public Health in its Fetal Death Evaluation Protocol.

      DOH is further required to establish a database to serve as a research resource.  Data are to be made available generally for research, without disclosing the personal identities of any individual to which the data relate.  In addition, DOH is directed to evaluate the data, which it may do by contracting with a public institution of higher education in the State, a foundation, or other third party.  The bill directs the Commissioner of DOH to report to the Governor and the Legislature within five years after the effective date of the bill on the findings of the evaluation and to include any recommendations for legislative action that the commissioner deems appropriate. 

      The bill would take effect one year after the date of enactment.

      The committee amended the bill to correct references related to the term “stillborn child.”