Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill that would allow Tennessee parents who have lost a baby to miscarriage to request a commemorative birth certificate.
That means a doctor who attends or diagnoses the loss of the pregnancy will now provide a letter or form verifying what happened, upon request of the patient.
The bill goes into effect immediately.
The state department of health would then issue a commemorative certificate within 60 days. It should contain the name and sex of the fetus, if known, and the following statement on the front: "This commemorative certificate is not proof of a live birth."
The department would not be able to register the birth associated with a certificate or use it to calculate live birth statistics, and it will have no legal effect. It is also not a public record.
This bill defines a "nonviable birth" as an unintentional, spontaneous fetal demise occurring prior to the 20th week of gestation during a pregnancy that has been verified by a healthcare practitioner.