SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 799
92ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Reported from the Committee on Financial and Governmental Organization, Veterans' Affairs and Elections, February 9, 2004, with recommendation that the Senate Committee Substitute do pass and be placed on the Consent Calendar.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
2727S.03C
AN ACT
To repeal sections 193.165 and 193.255, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth.
Section A. Sections 193.165 and 193.255, RSMo, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 193.165 and 193.255, to read as follows:
193.165. 1. Each spontaneous fetal death of twenty completed weeks gestation or more, calculated from the date the last normal menstrual period began to the date of delivery, or a weight of three hundred fifty grams or more, which occurs in this state shall be reported within seven days after delivery to the local registrar or as otherwise directed by the state registrar.
2. When a dead fetus is delivered in an institution, the person in charge of the institution or his or her designated representative shall prepare and file the report.
3. When a dead fetus is delivered outside an institution, the physician in attendance at or immediately after delivery shall prepare and file the report.
4. When a spontaneous fetal death required to be reported by this section occurs without medical attendance at or immediately after the delivery or when inquiry is required by the medical examiner or coroner, the medical examiner or coroner shall investigate the cause of spontaneous fetal death and shall prepare and file the report within seven days.
5. When a spontaneous fetal death occurs in a moving conveyance and the fetus is first removed from the conveyance in this state or when a dead fetus is found in this state and the place of the spontaneous fetal death is unknown, the spontaneous fetal death shall be reported in this state. The place where the fetus was first removed from the conveyance or the dead fetus was found shall be considered the place of the spontaneous fetal death.
6. [The spontaneous fetal death report required pursuant to this section is a statistical report to be used only for medical and health purposes and shall not be incorporated into the permanent official records of the system of vital statistics. A schedule for the disposition of these reports may be provided by department rules.] Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, individuals with direct and tangible interest, as defined by the department of health and senior services, may receive the spontaneous fetal death report.
193.255. 1. The state registrar and other custodians of vital records authorized by the state registrar to issue certified copies of vital records upon receipt of application shall issue a certified copy of any vital record in his custody or a part thereof to any applicant having a direct and tangible interest in the vital record. Each copy issued shall show the date of registration, and copies issued from records marked "Delayed" or "Amended" shall be similarly marked and show the effective date. The documentary evidence used to establish a delayed certificate shall be shown on all copies issued. All forms and procedures used in the issuance of certified copies of vital records in the state shall be provided or approved by the state registrar.
2. A certified copy of a vital record or any part thereof, issued in accordance with subsection 1 of this section, shall be considered for all purposes the same as the original and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein, provided that the evidentiary value of a certificate or record filed more than one year after the event, or a record which has been amended, shall be determined by the judicial or administrative body or official before whom the certificate is offered as evidence.
3. The federal agency responsible for national vital statistics may be furnished such copies or data from the system of vital statistics as it may require for national statistics, provided such federal agency share in the cost of collecting, processing, and transmitting such data, and provided further that such data shall not be used for other than statistical purposes by the federal agency unless so authorized by the state registrar.
4. Federal, state, local and other public or private agencies may, upon request, be furnished copies or data of any other vital statistics not obtainable under subsection 1 of this section for statistical or administrative purposes upon such terms or conditions as may be prescribed by regulation, provided that such copies or data shall not be used for purposes other than those for which they were requested unless so authorized by the state registrar.
5. The state registrar may, by agreement, transmit copies of records and other reports required by sections 193.005 to 193.325 to offices of vital statistics outside this state when such records or other reports relate to residents of those jurisdictions or persons born in those jurisdictions. This agreement shall require that the copies be used for statistical and administrative purposes only, and the agreement shall further provide for the retention and disposition of such copies. Copies received by the department from offices of vital statistics in other states shall be handled in the same manner as prescribed in this section.
6. No person shall prepare or issue any certificate which purports to be an original, certified copy, or copy of a vital record except as authorized herein or by regulations adopted hereunder.
7. The state registrar, upon receipt of application, shall issue a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth to any applicant having a direct and tangible interest in the record. The certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall be based upon the information available from the spontaneous fetal death report filed pursuant to section 193.165. The certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall include the statement "This is not proof of a live birth".
8. An individual may file an application for a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth for a birth that resulted in stillbirth prior to August 28, 2004.