ARIZONA STATE SENATE

45TH LEGISLATURE FIRST REGULAR SESSION

MINUTES OF COMMITTEE ON HEALTH

DATE:  March 20, 2001	TIME:   1:30 p.m.    ROOM: SHR 2
CHAIRMAN:	Senator Gerard
VICE CHAIRMAN:	Senator Nichols
ANALYST:	Jason Bezozo
COMMITTEE SECRETARY:	Carol Dager
INTERN:	Meghann Brennan
ASSISTANT ANALYST:	Kathy Seeglitz
ATTENDANCE

Committee Members	Pr	Ab	Ex	Bill Number	Disposition
Senator Cirillo	X			HB 2238	DPA
Senator Guenther			X	HB 2245	PD
Senator Hartley	X			HB 2412	DISCUSSION/HELD
Senator Hellon	X			HB 2416	DP
Senator Solomon	X			HB 2629	DISCUSSION/HELD
Senator Verkamp			X	HCM 2003	DP
Senator Nichols, Vice Chairman	X
Senator Gerard, Chairman	X

Chairman Gerard called the meeting to order at 1:45 p.m., and attendance was taken.

Attendees Sign-In Sheet (Attachment A)

CONSIDERATION OF BILLS

HB 2416 -Certificates of Stillbirth - DO PASS

Meghann Brennan, Senate Health Committee Intern, explained that HB 2416 requires the registrar of vital statistics to establish a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth for each fetal death occurring after 20 weeks of gestation.    

Joanne Cacciatore, citizen, quoted from Mark Twain in 1892 “favored above kings and emperors is the stillborn child.”  She said that she wished that stillbirth was respected in this manner in 1994.  She explained that her fourth daughter died during childbirth, full term, on her due date.  There was no explanation for her cause of death.  There was a post mortem evaluation and no one could give her any answers about why the baby died.  She was 8 pounds and more that 21 inches long.  She said that her milk came in a week after she buried her baby and for ten months she had milk in her breasts to feed a child who had died.  Approximately two weeks after her death, she was waiting for her birth certificate to arrive to put in her baby book as she had done with her previous three children.  She said that when she opened the envelope that came from the vital statistics office it said certificate of fetal death.  She stated that she was taken aback by it and did not want to include that in her book.  She said that she called the vital statistics office to find out when she would be receiving the birth certificate, the commented to her was “you did not have a baby, so you do not get a birth certificate.”  She stressed that she did in fact give birth to a baby. 

Ms. Cacciatore related that in 1999 there were more than 600 families who endured this tragedy in Arizona, with approximately 39,000 in the United States each year.  This affected everyone in her family and friends.  Historically, they share this tragedy with several presidents, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford Hayes, John F. Kennedy, as well as the Hemmingways.  She noted that a sociologist with the University of Nebraska did an intensive study of this during the early 1980s, researching 500 families asking them questions about their experience.  They all said that it is horrible not having any validation such as a birth certificate after having given birth.  This is a long overdue change that is needed.  She emphasized that women who endure nine or ten months of pregnancy and the difficulty of childbirth because of the reward at the end.  However, with a stillborn baby there is no reward.  Further, the fetal death certificate is a cruel and impressive reminder of a woman’s body’s failure to produce what it is suppose to.  Other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Canada, and Ireland currently issue certificate of births for children who are stillborn.  She said that she believes that HB 2416 is the right thing to do for Arizona women and their families.  It is a long overdue change.  She quoted from Martin Luther King, “It is always the right time to do the right thing.”

Senator Cirillo moved HB 2416 be returned with a DO PASS recommendation. The motion CARRIED with a roll call vote of 6-0-1.  (Attachment 1)

Chairman Gerard noted the following were present in support of the bill:  Karen Wondra, citizen; Paula Mikkelson, citizen; Delynn Jones, citizen; Timothy J. Dougherty, citizen; Nicole Dougherty, citizen; and Tammy Harmonte, citizen.