PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 507 PRINTER'S NO. 4183
No. 472 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY HABAY, BELARDI, CAWLEY, M. COHEN, CRUZ, GORDNER,
HERMAN, HORSEY, LAUGHLIN, PRESTON, TIGUE, DALEY, JAMES,
CREIGHTON AND GRUCELA, FEBRUARY 5, 2001
AS AMENDED ON THIRD CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
JUNE 28, 2002
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 29, 1953 (P.L.304, No.66), entitled "An
2 act providing for the administration of a statewide system of
3 vital statistics; prescribing the functions of the State
4 Department of Health, the State Advisory Health Board and
5 local registrars; imposing duties upon coroners,
6 prothonotaries, clerks of orphans' court, physicians,
7 midwives and other persons; requiring reports and
8 certificates for the registration of vital statistics;
9 regulating the disposition of dead bodies; limiting the
10 disclosure of records; prescribing the sufficiency of vital
11 statistics records as evidence; prescribing fees and
12 penalties; and revising and consolidating the laws relating
13 thereto," providing for certificate of stillbirth.
14 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
15 hereby enacts as follows:
16 Section 1. Section 105 of the act of June 29, 1953 (P.L.304,
17 No.66), known as the Vital Statistics Law of 1953, amended
18 December 20, 1991 (P.L.399, No.46), is amended to read:
19 Section 105. General Provisions: Definitions.--As used in
20 this act--
21 (1) "Department" means the State Department of Health.
22 (2) "Vital statistics" includes the registration,
1 preparation, transcription, collection, compilation, analysis
2 and preservation of data pertaining to births, adoptions,
3 legitimations, deaths, [fetal deaths,] stillbirths, marital
4 status and data incidental thereto.
5 (3) "Live birth" means the expulsion or extraction from its
6 mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the period of
7 gestation, which shows any evidence of life at any moment after
8 such expulsion or extraction.
9 (4) ["Fetal death"] "Stillbirth" means the expulsion or
10 extraction from its mother of a product of conception after
11 sixteen (16) weeks gestation, which shows no evidence of life
12 after such expulsion or extraction.
13 (5) "Dead body" means (i) a lifeless human body, or (ii)
14 such parts of a human body as permit a reasonable inference that
15 death has occurred.
16 (6) ["Fetal] "Stillbirth remains" means the fetus expelled or
17 extracted in the case of a [fetal death] stillbirth as defined
18 by this section.
19 (7) "Person in charge of interment" means any person who
20 places or causes to be placed a dead body or [fetal] stillbirth
21 remains in a grave, vault or other receptacle, or otherwise
22 disposes thereof.
23 (8) "Physician" means (i) a person licensed under the laws
24 of this Commonwealth to engage as a doctor of medicine in the
25 practice of all the branches of medicine, or (ii) a person
26 licensed under the laws of this Commonwealth to engage in the
27 practice of osteopathy or osteopathic surgery.
28 (9) "Immediate family member" means grandparents, parents,
29 siblings, grandchildren, spouses and children.
30 Section 2. Article V heading of the act is amended to read:
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1 Article V. Death and [Fetal Death] Stillbirth Registration
2 Section 3. Section 501 of the act, amended July 9, 1971
3 (P.L.213, No.38), is amended to read:
4 Section 501. Death and [Fetal Death] Stillbirth
5 Registration: Certificates to be Filed.--A certificate of each
6 death or [fetal death] stillbirth which occurs in this
7 Commonwealth shall be filed within ninety-six (96) hours after
8 the death or [fetal death] stillbirth or within ninety-six (96)
9 hours after the finding of a dead body or [fetal] stillbirth
10 remains. In every instance, the certificate shall be filed prior
11 to the issuance of a permit for interment or other disposition
12 of the dead body or [fetal] stillbirth remains. The person in
13 charge of interment or of removal of the dead body or [fetal]
14 stillbirth remains from the registration district shall file the
15 certificate with any local registrar who shall be authorized to
16 issue certified copies of such death.
17 Section 4. Sections 502 and 503 of the act, amended December
18 20, 1991 (P.L.399, No.46), are amended to read:
19 Section 502. Death and [Fetal Death] Stillbirth
20 Registration: Information for Certificates.--In preparing a
21 certificate of death or [fetal death] stillbirth, the person in
22 charge of interment or of removal of a dead body or [fetal]
23 stillbirth remains from the registration district shall obtain
24 the required information. The following persons shall supply the
25 information certified by their respective signatures:
26 (1) Personal information concerning the deceased or the
27 [fetal death] stillbirth shall be supplied by the person best
28 acquainted with the facts.
29 (2) Subject to the limitation contained in clause (3), the
30 medical certification, except in the event of a referral to the
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1 coroner pursuant to section five hundred three of this act,
2 shall be supplied (i) in the case of a death, by the physician
3 or (ii) dentist who is a staff member of an approved hospital
4 who attended the deceased during the last illness, provided the
5 death occurs in the hospital and the deceased had been admitted
6 on the dental service, and (iii) in the case of a [fetal death]
7 stillbirth, by the attending physician.
8 (3) In all cases where the physician or dentist who would
9 otherwise supply the medical certification is a member of the
10 immediate family of the deceased, the case shall be referred to
11 another physician or dentist who qualifies under clause (2) for
12 a medical certification. In the event a qualified alternate
13 physician or dentist is unavailable or unwilling to provide the
14 medical certification required by law, the case shall be
15 referred to the coroner of the county wherein the death occurred
16 or to a coroner of an adjacent county. In no event shall a
17 coroner sign a certificate of death or [fetal death] stillbirth
18 for a deceased who was a member of his immediate family.
19 Section 503. Death and [Fetal Death] Stillbirth
20 Registration: Coroner Referrals.--The local registrar or person
21 in charge of interment or other person having knowledge of the
22 death or [fetal death] stillbirth shall refer to the coroner the
23 following cases: (1) where no physician or dentist who is a
24 staff member of an approved hospital was in attendance during
25 the last illness of the deceased or in the case of a [fetal
26 death] stillbirth where there was no attending physician, or (2)
27 where the physician or dentist who is a staff member of an
28 approved hospital in attendance during the last illness of the
29 deceased or the attending physician in the case of a [fetal
30 death] stillbirth is physically unable to supply the necessary
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1 data, or (3) where the circumstances suggest that the death was
2 sudden or violent or suspicious in nature or was the result of
3 other than natural causes, or (4) where the physician, dentist
4 or coroner who provided or would provide the medical
5 certification is a member of the immediate family of the
6 deceased. In every instance of a referral under this section,
7 the coroner shall make an immediate investigation and shall
8 supply the necessary data, including the medical certification
9 of the death or [fetal death] stillbirth. In no event shall a
10 coroner sign a certificate of death or [fetal death] stillbirth
11 for a deceased who was a member of his immediate family.
12 Section 5. Section 504 of the act, amended July 9, 1971
13 (P.L.213, No.38), is amended to read:
14 Section 504. Death and [Fetal Death] Stillbirth
15 Registration: Permits Concerning Dead Bodies and [Fetal]
16 Stillbirth Remains.--No person shall dispose of a dead body or
17 [fetal] stillbirth remains until a local registrar issues a
18 permit therefor. The local registrar shall issue the permit only
19 after the person in charge of interment or removal has filed
20 with the local registrar a certificate of death or [fetal death]
21 stillbirth and has complied with all regulations with respect to
22 the issuance of the permit.
23 The sexton or other person in charge of any premises in which
24 bodies are interred or cremated shall not allow the interment or
25 cremation of any dead body or [fetal] stillbirth remains unless
26 a permit issued under this section is presented to him. The
27 sexton or other person in charge of such premises shall indorse
28 upon each permit presented to him the date of interment or
29 cremation, over his signature, and shall return the permit so
30 indorsed to the local registrar of his district within ten days
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1 from the date of interment or cremation.
2 Section 6. Section 505 of the act is amended to read:
3 Section 505. Death and [Fetal Death] Stillbirth
4 Registration: Out-of-State Permits.--When a death or [fetal
5 death] stillbirth occurs outside of this Commonwealth and the
6 dead body or [fetal] stillbirth remains are accompanied by a
7 permit for burial, removal or other disposition, issued in
8 accordance with the law and regulations in force where the death
9 or [fetal death] stillbirth occurred, the permit shall authorize
10 transportation into or through this Commonwealth and burial or
11 other disposition of the dead body or [fetal] stillbirth remains
12 within this Commonwealth, without the indorsement of a local
13 registrar of this Commonwealth.
14 Section 7. Section 506 of the act, amended November 20, 1981
15 (P.L.338, No.123), is amended to read:
16 Section 506. Death and [Fetal Death] Stillbirth
17 Registration: Regulations Concerning Dead Bodies and [Fetal]
18 Stillbirth Remains.--The Advisory Health Board shall make and
19 may amend or repeal regulations governing disposal,
20 transportation, interment and disinterment of dead bodies and
21 [fetal] stillbirth remains, in order to protect the public
22 health and promote the integrity and efficacy of death and
23 [fetal death] stillbirth registration. However, the Advisory
24 Health Board shall not, pursuant to the authority contained in
25 this or any other act, promulgate any regulation which would
26 require that the top of the outer case containing a casket be
27 buried a distance of more than two feet from the natural surface
28 of the ground.
29 Section 8. The heading of section 507 of the act, amended
30 December 20, 1991 (P.L.399, No.46), is amended to read:
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1 Section 507. Death and [Fetal Death] Stillbirth
2 Registrations: Pronouncement of Death by a Professional Nurse.--
3 * * *
4 Section 9. Section 806.1 of the act, amended December 3,
5 1975 (P.L.468, No.135), is amended to read:
6 Section 806.1. Records: Miniature Certifications of Birth or
7 Stillbirth.--(a) Upon application therefor and payment of a fee
8 of two dollars ($2), the department shall issue to any person
9 whose original certificate of birth is on file in this
10 Commonwealth a miniature certification of the facts of his
11 birth. Such certification shall be approximately two and one-
12 half inches by four inches in size so that it may be
13 conveniently carried for identification and proof as to age.
14 (b) Upon application therefor and payment of a fee of two
15 dollars ($2), the department shall issue a regular birth
16 certificate in the name the applicant is actually using upon
17 adequate proof demonstrating the use of the name for fifteen
18 (15) years or more, except in the case of children under fifteen
19 (15) years of age. Adequate proof shall consist of any one of
20 the following: baptism certificate or other verified church
21 records, insurance policy, school record, working papers, armed
22 service discharge papers or marriage license which document
23 shall have originally been issued at least fifteen (15) years
24 prior to the application for a birth certificate under this
25 subsection.
26 (c) Upon application therefor and payment of a fee of two
27 dollars ($2), the department shall issue a miniature or regular
28 certificate of stillbirth to a parent of a stillborn child.
29 SECTION 10. THE ADDITION OF SECTION 806.1(C) OF THE ACT <--
30 SHALL BE RETROACTIVE TO JANUARY 1, 1980.
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1 Section 10 11. This act shall take effect in 60 days. <--
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