79R1625 YDB-D

By:  Burnam                                                       H.B. No. 335



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the issuance of a birth certificate for a birth 
resulting in stillbirth on request of a parent.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 192, Health and Safety 
Code, is amended by adding Section 192.0022 to read as follows:
	Sec. 192.0022.  BIRTH CERTIFICATE FOR A BIRTH RESULTING IN 
STILLBIRTH.  (a) In this section, "stillbirth" means an 
unintended, intrauterine fetal death occurring in this state after 
a gestational age of not less than twenty completed weeks.
	(b)  A parent may request the bureau of vital statistics to 
issue a birth certificate for a birth resulting in stillbirth.
	(c)  A parent may provide a name for a stillborn child on the 
request for a birth certificate for a birth resulting in stillbirth 
submitted under Subsection (b).  The person who prepares the 
certificate shall leave blank any references to the stillborn 
child's name if the requesting parent does not wish to provide a 
name.
	(d)  The department shall prescribe the form and content of a 
birth certificate for a birth resulting in stillbirth and shall 
specify the information necessary to prepare the certificate.
	(e)  The executive commissioner of the Health and Human 
Services Commission may adopt rules necessary to administer this 
section.
	SECTION 2.  Not later than the 60th day following the 
effective date of this Act, the bureau of vital statistics of the 
Department of State Health Services shall prescribe the form and 
content of a birth certificate for a birth resulting in stillbirth 
as required by Section 192.0022, Health and Safety Code, as added by 
this Act.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.