To amend sections 3705.01, 3705.16, 3705.20, and 3705.29 and to enact sections 517.071, 759.49, 1721.071, 3727.16, 4731.82, and 4765.57 of the Revised Code to enact the Grieving Parents Act, regarding fetal death certificates for, and burials of, the product of human conception that suffers a fetal death.

Section 1.  That sections 3705.01, 3705.16, 3705.20, and 3705.29 be amended and sections 517.071, 759.49, 1721.071, 3727.16, 4731.82, and 4765.57 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 517.071.  (A) As used in this section, "fetal death" has the same meaning as in section 3705.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) A board of township trustees may adopt rules for any township cemetery over which it has control for the burial, re-interment, or disinterment of the product of a fetal death.

(C) With regard to the product of a fetal death, on the request of the mother, a township cemetery shall inter the product of the fetal death in accordance with one of the following:

(1) In a single grave within the cemetery that contains, or will contain, the remains of a parent, sibling, or grandparent;

(2) In another location of the cemetery, including a separate burial ground for infants, on a temporary or permanent basis.

(D) If the mother provides written consent, re-interment or disinterment of the product of a fetal death buried in accordance with division (C)(2) of this section is not subject to section 517.23 or 517.24 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 759.49.  (A) As used in this section, "fetal death" has the same meaning as in section 3705.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) The legislative authority of a municipal corporation owning a public burial ground or cemetery, whether within or without the municipal corporation, may pass and provide for the enforcement of ordinances for the burial, re-interment, or disinterment of the product of a fetal death in that public burial ground or cemetery.

(C) With regard to the product of a fetal death, on the request of the mother, a public burial ground or cemetery shall inter the product of the fetal death in accordance with one of the following:

(1) In a single grave within the public burial ground or cemetery that contains, or will contain, the remains of a parent, sibling, or grandparent;

(2) In another location of the public burial ground or cemetery, including a separate burial ground for infants, on a temporary or permanent basis.

(D) If the mother provides written consent, re-interment or disinterment of the product of a fetal death buried in accordance with division (C)(2) of this section is not subject to section 517.23 or 517.24 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 1721.071.  (A) As used in this section, "fetal death" has the same meaning as in section 3705.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) A cemetery company or association may prescribe rules for the burial, re-interment, or disinterment of the product of a fetal death.

(C) With regard to the product of a fetal death, on the request of the mother, a cemetery company or association shall inter the product of the fetal death in accordance with one of the following:

(1) In a single grave within the cemetery that contains, or will contain, the remains of a parent, sibling, or grandparent;

(2) In another location of the cemetery, including a separate burial ground for infants, on a temporary or permanent basis.

(D) If the mother provides written consent, re-interment or disinterment of the product of a fetal death buried in accordance with division (C)(2) of this section is not subject to section 517.23 or 517.24 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3705.01.  As used in this chapter:

(A) "Live birth" means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception that after such expulsion or extraction breathes or shows any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached.

(B)(1) "Fetal death" means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception of at least twenty weeks of gestation,, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy which is not the purposeful termination of a pregnancy as described in section 2919.11 of the Revised Code and which after such expulsion or extraction does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles.

(2) "Stillborn" means that an infant suffered a fetal death of at least twenty weeks of gestation.

(C) "Dead body" means a human body or part of a human body from the condition of which it reasonably may be concluded that death recently occurred.

(D) "Physician" means a person licensed pursuant to Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine or surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(E) "Attending physician" means the physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition that resulted in death.

(F) "Institution" means any establishment, public or private, that provides medical, surgical, or diagnostic care or treatment, or domiciliary care, to two or more unrelated individuals, or to persons committed by law.

(G) "Funeral director" has the meaning given in section 4717.01 of the Revised Code.

(H) "State registrar" means the head of the office of vital statistics in the department of health.

(I) "Medical certification" means completion of the medical certification portion of the certificate of death or fetal death as to the cause of death or fetal death.

(J) "Final disposition" means the interment, cremation, removal from the state, donation, or other authorized disposition of a dead body or a fetal death.

(K) "Interment" means the final disposition of the remains of a dead body by burial or entombment.

(L) "Cremation" means the reduction to ashes of a dead body.

(M) "Donation" means gift of a dead body to a research institution or medical school.

(N) "System of vital statistics" means the registration, collection, preservation, amendment, and certification of vital records, the collection of other reports required by this chapter, and activities related thereto.

(O) "Vital records" means certificates or reports of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, dissolution of marriage, annulment, and data related thereto and other documents maintained as required by statute.

(P) "File" means the presentation of vital records for registration by the office of vital statistics.

(Q) "Registration" means the acceptance by the office of vital statistics and the incorporation of vital records into its official records.

(R) "Birth record" means a birth certificate that has been registered with the office of vital statistics; or, if registered prior to the effective date of this section March 16, 1989, with the division of vital statistics; or, if registered prior to the establishment of the division of vital statistics, with the department of health or a local registrar.

(S) "Certification of birth" means a document issued by the director of health or state registrar or a local registrar under division (B) of section 3705.23 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3705.16. (A) For purposes of this section notwithstanding section 3705.01 of the Revised Code, "fetal death" does not include death of the product of human conception prior to twenty weeks of gestation.

(B) Each death or fetal death that occurs in this state shall be registered with the local registrar of vital statistics of the district in which the death or fetal death occurred, by the funeral director or other person in charge of the final disposition of the remains. The personal and statistical information in the death or fetal death certificate shall be obtained from the best qualified persons or sources available, by the funeral director or other person in charge of the final disposition of the remains. The statement of facts relating to the disposition of the body and information relative to the armed services referred to in section 3705.19 of the Revised Code shall be signed by the funeral director or other person in charge of the final disposition of the remains.

(B)(C) The funeral director or other person in charge of the final disposition of the remains shall present the death or fetal death certificate to the attending physician of the decedent, the coroner, or the medical examiner, as appropriate for certification of the cause of death. If a death or fetal death occurs under any circumstances mentioned in section 313.12 of the Revised Code, the coroner in the county in which the death occurs, or a deputy coroner, medical examiner, or deputy medical examiner serving in an equivalent capacity, shall certify the cause of death unless that death was reported to the coroner, deputy coroner, medical examiner, or deputy medical examiner and that person, after a preliminary examination, declined to assert jurisdiction with respect to the death or fetal death. A physician other than the coroner in the county in which a death or fetal death occurs, or a deputy coroner, medical examiner, or deputy medical examiner serving in an equivalent capacity, may certify only those deaths that occur under natural circumstances.

The medical certificate of death shall be completed and signed by the physician who attended the decedent or by the coroner or medical examiner, as appropriate, within forty-eight hours after the death or fetal death. A coroner or medical examiner may satisfy the requirement of signing a medical certificate showing the cause of death or fetal death as pending either by stamping it with a stamp of the coroner's or medical examiner's signature or by signing it in the coroner's or medical examiner's own hand, but the coroner or medical examiner shall sign any other medical certificate of death or supplementary medical certification in the coroner's or medical examiner's own hand.

(C)(D) Any death certificate registered pursuant to this section shall contain the social security number of the decedent, if available. A social security number obtained under this section is a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3705.20.  A (A) The fetal death of the product of human conception of at least twenty weeks of gestation shall be registered on a fetal death certificate. A

The fetal death of the product of human conception prior to twenty weeks of gestation shall be registered on a fetal death certificate upon application by the mother. A fetal death certificate for the product of human conception prior to twenty weeks gestation is not proof of a live birth for purposes of federal, state, and local taxes.

(B) The product of human conception that suffers a fetal death which occurs of at least twenty weeks of gestation occurring in Ohio shall not be interred, deposited in a vault or tomb, cremated, or otherwise disposed of by a funeral director or other person until a fetal death certificate or provisional death certificate has been filed with and a burial permit is issued by the local registrar of vital statistics of the registration district in which the fetal death occurs, or the body is found. The

A burial permit for the product of human conception that suffers a fetal death prior to twenty weeks of gestation shall be issued by the local registrar of vital statistics of the registration district in which the fetal death occurs if the mother files a fetal death certificate with that registrar.

(C)(1) The department of health and the local registrar shall keep a separate record and index record of fetal death certificates.

(2) The personal or statistical information on the fetal death certificate shall be obtained by the funeral director or other person in charge of interment or cremation from the best qualified persons or sources available.

Sec. 3705.29.  (A) No person shall do any of the following:

(1) Purposely make any false statement in a certificate, record, or report required by this chapter or in an application or amendment of it, or purposely supply false information with the intent that that information be used in the preparation of any such report, record, or certificate, or amendment of it;

(2) Without lawful authority and with intent to deceive, counterfeit, alter, amend, or mutilate any certificate, record, or report required by this chapter or any certified copy of it;

(3) Purposely obtain, possess, use, sell, furnish, or attempt to obtain, possess, use, sell, or furnish to another for the purpose of deception any certificate, record, or report required by this chapter or any certified copy of it, or any certificate, record, or report that is counterfeit, altered, or amended or false in whole or part;

(4) Purposely obtain, possess, use, sell, furnish, or attempt to obtain, possess, use, sell, or furnish to another for the purpose of deception any certificate, record, or report required by this chapter, or any certified copy of it, that relates to the birth of another person, whether living or dead;

(5) Without lawful authority, possess any certificate, record, or report required by this chapter or any copy of such a certificate, record, or report, knowing it to have been stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained.

(B) No person employed by the office of vital statistics or a local registrar shall purposely furnish or possess a birth record or certified copy of a birth record with intent that it be used for deception.

(C) No person shall do any of the following:

(1) Purposely refuse to provide information required by this chapter or rules adopted under it;

(2) Purposely transport out of this state or accept for interment or other disposition a dead body without a permit required by this chapter;

(3) Knowingly prepare, issue, sell, or give any record or certificate that is alleged to be an original vital record or a certified copy of a vital record if the person knows or has reason to know that it is not an original vital record or a certified copy of a vital record;

(4) Refuse to comply with the requirements of this chapter or violate any of the provisions of this chapter.

(D) No officer or employee of the department of health shall knowingly reveal or provide any information contained in an adoption file maintained by the department under section 3705.12 of the Revised Code to any person, or knowingly reveal or provide the contents of an adoption file to any person, unless authorized to do so by section 3705.12 of the Revised Code.

(E) If a death, or a fetal death of at least twenty weeks of gestation, occurs under any circumstances mentioned in section 313.12 of the Revised Code, the coroner of the county in which the death or fetal death occurs, or a deputy coroner, medical examiner, or deputy medical examiner serving in an equivalent capacity, shall certify the cause of that death unless the death was reported to the coroner, deputy coroner, medical examiner, or deputy medical examiner and that person, after a preliminary examination, declined to assert jurisdiction with respect to the death or fetal death.

(F) No physician other than the coroner in the county in which a death, or a fetal death of at least twenty weeks of gestation, occurs, or a deputy coroner, medical examiner, or deputy medical examiner serving in an equivalent capacity, may certify any death or fetal death that occurs under any circumstances other than natural.

(G) If a death, or a fetal death of at least twenty weeks of gestation, occurs under any circumstances mentioned in section 313.12 of the Revised Code, no person shall knowingly present a death or fetal death certificate for the purpose of obtaining certification of the cause of death to any physician other than the coroner in the county in which the death or fetal death occurred, or to a deputy coroner, medical examiner, or deputy medical examiner serving in an equivalent capacity, unless that death or fetal death was reported to the coroner, deputy coroner, medical examiner, or deputy medical examiner and that person, after a preliminary examination, declined to assert jurisdiction with respect to the death or fetal death.

(H) No person, with intent to defraud or knowing that the person is facilitating a fraud, shall do either of the following:

(1) Certify a cause of death in violation of the prohibition of division (E) or (F) of this section;

(2) Obtain or attempt to obtain a certification of the cause of a death or fetal death in violation of the prohibition of division (G) of this section.

Sec. 3727.16.  (A) As used in this section, "fetal death" has the same meaning as in section 3705.01 of the Revised Code, except that it does not include the product of human conception of at least twenty weeks of gestation.

(B) If a woman presents herself at a hospital as a result of a fetal death, the hospital shall provide the woman with the following information:

(1) The right of the woman to apply for a fetal death certificate pursuant to section 3705.20 of the Revised Code;

(2) The hospital's procedures for disposing of the product of a fetal death.

A hospital or hospital employee may present the information required by this division through oral or written means and document that the information has been provided with a note in the mother's medical record.

(C) A hospital or hospital employee is immune from civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action with regard to any action taken in good faith compliance with this section.

Sec. 4731.82.  (A) As used in this section:

"Fetal death" has the same meaning as in section 3705.01 of the Revised Code, except that it does not include the product of human conception of at least twenty weeks of gestation.

"Physician" means an individual holding a certificate to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery pursuant to this chapter.

(B) If a woman presents herself to a physician as a result of a fetal death, the physician shall provide the woman with the following information:

(1) The right of the woman to apply for a fetal death certificate pursuant to section 3705.20 of the Revised Code;

(2) The physician's procedures for disposing of the product of a fetal death.

A physician may present the information required by this division through oral or written means and document that the information has been provided with a note in the mother's medical record.

(C) A physician is immune from civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action with regard to any action taken in good faith compliance with this section.

Sec. 4765.57.  (A) As used in this section, "fetal death" has the same meaning as in section 3705.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) Emergency medical service personnel shall dispose of the product of a fetal death in the manner set forth for the disposition of fetal remains in the "emergency medical technician-basic: national standard curriculum."

Section 2.  That existing sections 3705.01, 3705.16, 3705.20, and 3705.29 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. This act shall be known as "The Grieving Parents Act."