I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5012 

To improve research and data collection on stillbirths, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mrs. KIM of California (for herself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. JOYCE of 

Ohio, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. BACON, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, 

Mr. KILMER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, 

Ms. SHERRILL, Mrs. TRAHAN, and Mrs. HINSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To improve research and data collection on stillbirths, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stillbirth Health Im5 provement and Education for Autumn Act of 2023’’ or 

6 the ‘‘SHINE for Autumn Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STILLBIRTH RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION IM2 PROVEMENTS. 

3 Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended 

4 by inserting after section 317L–1 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 247b–13a) the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 317L–2. STILLBIRTH RESEARCH AND DATA COLLEC7 TION IMPROVEMENTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) STILLBIRTH SURVEILLANCE AND RISK FACTOR

9 STUDIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 

11 grants to States for purposes of— 

12 ‘‘(A) conducting surveillance and collecting 

13 data, including from existing datasets like State 

14 or sub-State maternal mortality data and Fetal 

15 and Infant Mortality Review data, with respect 

16 to stillbirths for public health and research pur17 poses; 

18 ‘‘(B) building State and local public health 

19 capacity to assess stillbirth data; and 

20 ‘‘(C) collecting and reporting data on still21 birth risk factors, including any quantifiable 

22 outcomes with respect to such risk factors. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONDITION.—As a condition of receipt of 

24 funds under this section, all data collected shall be 

25 in a manner that protects personal privacy and in a 


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1 manner that is consistent with applicable Federal 

2 and State privacy law, at a minimum. 

3 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 To carry out this subsection, there is authorized to 

5 be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

6 2024 through 2028. 

7 ‘‘(b) GUIDELINES AND EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS

8 MATERIALS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) issue guidelines to State departments 

11 of health and State and local vital statistics 

12 units on— 

13 ‘‘(i) collecting data on stillbirth from 

14 health care providers, and with the consent 

15 of the woman who experienced the still16 birth, including any such data with respect 

17 to the clinical history, postmortem exam18 ination, and placental pathology; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) improving processes and training 

20 related to stillbirth data collection and re21 porting to ensure standardization and com22 pleteness of data; and 

23 ‘‘(B) develop, and make publicly available, 

24 educational awareness materials on stillbirths. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out para2 graph (1), the Secretary may consult with— 

3 ‘‘(A) national health care professional as4 sociations; 

5 ‘‘(B) national associations representing 

6 State and local public health officials; 

7 ‘‘(C) organizations that assist families with 

8 burial support and bereavement services; 

9 ‘‘(D) nurses and nurse practitioners; 

10 ‘‘(E) obstetricians and gynecologists; 

11 ‘‘(F) pediatricians; 

12 ‘‘(G) maternal-fetal medicine specialists; 

13 ‘‘(H) nurse midwives and midwives; 

14 ‘‘(I) mental health professionals; 

15 ‘‘(J) statisticians; 

16 ‘‘(K) individuals who have experienced a 

17 stillbirth; and 

18 ‘‘(L) advocacy organizations representing 

19 such individuals. 

20 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 To carry out this subsection, there is authorized to 

22 be appropriated $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

23 2024 through 2028. 

24 ‘‘(c) VITAL STATISTICS UNIT DEFINED.—In this sec25 tion, the term ‘vital statistics unit’ means the entity that 


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1 is responsible for maintaining vital records for a State, 

2 or a political subdivision of such State, including official 

3 records of live births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, di4 vorces, and annulments.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. PERINATAL PATHOLOGY FELLOWSHIPS. 

6 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert7 ing after section 1122 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300c–12) 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 1123. IMPROVING PERINATAL PATHOLOGY. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall incorporate 

11 into an existing training program a Perinatal Pathology 

12 Fellowship Program, a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship 

13 on Factors Associated with Stillbirth Program, or both. 

14 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—Each program incorporated under 

15 subsection (a) shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) provide training in perinatal autopsy pa17 thology; 

18 ‘‘(2) provide practice-based learning opportuni19 ties to foster exchange and connection with State ef20 forts concerning fetal death review that are sup21 ported under title V of the Social Security Act; 

22 ‘‘(3) conduct research on, and improve data col23 lection with respect to, stillbirths, including through 

24 fetal autopsies; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) address challenges in stillbirth education, 

2 research, and data collection. 

3 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. REPORTS. 

7 (a) EDUCATIONAL GUIDELINES REPORT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than five years 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary of Health and Human Services shall publish 

11 on a public website of the Department of Health and 

12 Human Services a report with educational guidelines 

13 on stillbirth and stillbirth risk factors. 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—Such report shall include, to 

15 the extent practicable and appropriate, the guide16 lines issued and educational awareness materials de17 veloped under section 317L–2 of the Public Health 

18 Service Act, as added by section 2 of this Act. 

19 (b) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than five years 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

21 Health and Human Services shall submit to the Congress 

22 a comprehensive report on the progress and effectiveness 

23 of each program under section 1123 of the Public Health 

24 Service Act, as added by section 3 of this Act. 

Æ 


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