I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5979 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the national collection 
of data on stillbirths in a standardized manner, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 6, 2008 
Mr. KING of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 
the national collection of data on stillbirths in a stand-
ardized manner, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stillbirth Awareness 
and Research Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) While States issue both a birth and a death 
certificate when a baby lives for only moments out-
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side the womb, most States issue only a death cer-
tificate in the case of a stillbirth. 
(2) Almost half of the States have enacted leg-
islation called MISSing Angels bills allowing a State 
to issue a ‘‘Certificate of Birth Resulting in Still-
birth’’, and many other States are considering such 
legislation. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 
Congress that more States should enact legislation that 
allows the issuance of a ‘‘Certificate of Birth Resulting 
in Stillbirth’’ when the pregnancy results in a stillbirth. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL STILLBIRTH REGISTRY. 
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec-
tion 317S the following: 
‘‘SEC. 317T. NATIONAL STILLBIRTH REGISTRY. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—For the purposes described 
in subsection (b), the Secretary, acting through the Direc-
tor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
shall, by grant or contract, establish and maintain a sci-
entific registry of stillbirths in the United States (in this 
section referred to as the ‘registry’). 
‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the registry are— 
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‘‘(1) to provide a national repository for report-
ing and maintaining in a consistent manner data on 
stillbirths; and 
‘‘(2) to make such data available for research 
on the causes and prevention of stillbirths. 
‘‘(c) CONTENT.—The registry shall include, with re-
spect to each stillbirth, information on the stillborn fetus 
and the mother’s health and pregnancy as collected and 
submitted by States on the U.S. Standard Report of Fetal 
Death. In submitting such information, the Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall require 
States to use the standard definition of stillbirth and the 
standard protocol for stillbirth data collection and surveil-
lance as determined pursuant to subsection (d). 
‘‘(d) DETERMINATION
OF STANDARD STILLBIRTH 
DEFINITION AND PROTOCOL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall provide for the development 
of the following: 
‘‘(A) A standard definition of stillbirth. 
‘‘(B) A standard protocol for stillbirth data 
collection and surveillance. 
‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall en-
sure that the standard definition and protocol de-
scribed paragraph (1) are developed under such 
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paragraph in a manner that ensures the consultation 
of representatives of health care organizations, State 
and local governments, and other interested entities 
specified by the Secretary.’’. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON NIH FUNDING FOR STILL-
BIRTH RESEARCH. 
It is the sense of the Congress that the Director of 
the National Institutes of Health should increase the allo-
cation of funds and other resources for stillbirth research. 
SEC. 5. NATIONAL PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall carry out a national campaign to 
increase public awareness and knowledge of stillbirths and 
public and State awareness of the standard stillbirth defi-
nition and standard protocol for stillbirth data collection 
and surveillance under section 306(h)(3) of the Public 
Health Service Act, as added by section 3. 
(b) MEASURES TO REDUCE
THE INCIDENCE
OF 
STILLBIRTHS.—Activities under the national campaign 
under subsection (a) shall include— 
(1) the dissemination of information on meas-
ures for mothers to maintain a healthy pregnancy 
and assess fetal health; 
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(2) the dissemination of information on good 
prenatal care practices such as not drinking alcohol 
or smoking; and 
(3) the promotion of fetal movement awareness 
and taking proactive steps to monitor a baby’s move-
ment beginning at approximately 28 weeks into the 
pregnancy. 
Æ 
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