ASSEMBLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 2843

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 16, 2013

      The Assembly Women and Children Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments, Senate Bill No. 2843(1R).

      As amended by the committee, 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 protocols to incorporate best practices for a thorough evaluation of a stillborn child.  The bill requires that DOH establish evaluation protocols 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.  The bill also directs the State Board of Medical Examiners and the State Board of Nursing to require physicians and nurses, respectively, to adhere to the polices developed by the commissioner pursuant to the bill.

      DOH is further required to establish a new database or update an existing 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 eight 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 requirements to establish and maintain the new database or update an existing database and the stipulation that DOH evaluate the data obtained pursuant to the bill would take effect two years after the date of the bill's enactment, except that if the department develops the technical capability, the department would establish and maintain the new, or update the existing, database prior to that time.

      This bill is identical to Assembly Bill No. 4280 (Lampitt/Decroce/Mosquera/Casagrande), which the committee also reported on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

      The committee amended the bill to direct the State Board of Medical Examiners and the State Board of Nursing to require physicians and nurses, respectively, to adhere to the polices developed by the commissioner pursuant to the bill. The committee also amended the bill to clarify that DOH is required to establish a new database or update an existing database to serve as a research resource.  The amendments also clarify that the provisions concerning the requirements to establish and maintain the new, and update the existing, database and the stipulation that DOH evaluate the data obtained pursuant to the bill would take effect two years after the date of the bill's enactment, except that if the department develops the technical capability, the department would establish and maintain the new, or update the existing, database prior to that time.  The amendments also stipulate that the Commissioner of DOH report to the Governor and the Legislature within eight years after the effective date of the bill on the findings of the evaluation.