[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3972 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3972

 To improve research and data collection on stillbirths, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 31, 2022

 Mr. Booker (for himself and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve research and data collection on stillbirths, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stillbirth Health Improvement and 
Education for Autumn Act of 2022'' or the ``SHINE for Autumn Act of 
2022''.

SEC. 2. STILLBIRTH RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION IMPROVEMENTS.

    Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting 
after section 317L-1 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-13a) the following:

``SEC. 317L-2. STILLBIRTH RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION IMPROVEMENTS.

    ``(a) Stillbirth Surveillance and Risk Factor Studies.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may award grants to States 
        for purposes of--
                    ``(A) conducting surveillance and collecting data 
                with respect to stillbirths;
                    ``(B) building State and local public health 
                capacity to assess stillbirth data; and
                    ``(C) collecting and reporting data on stillbirth 
                risk factors, including any quantifiable outcomes with 
                respect to such risk factors.
            ``(2) Authorization of appropriations.--To carry out this 
        subsection, there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 
        for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
    ``(b) Guidelines and Educational Awareness Materials.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) issue guidelines to State departments of 
                health and State and local vital statistics units on--
                            ``(i) collecting data on stillbirth from 
                        health care providers, and with the consent of 
                        the family involved, including any such data 
                        with respect to the clinical history, 
                        postmortem examination, and placental 
                        pathology;
                            ``(ii) sharing such data with Federal 
                        agencies determined appropriate by the Director 
                        of the Centers for Disease Control and 
                        Prevention; and
                            ``(iii) improving processes and training 
                        related to stillbirth data collection and 
                        reporting to ensure standardization and 
                        completeness of data; and
                    ``(B) develop, and make publicly available, 
                educational awareness materials on stillbirths.
            ``(2) Consultation.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary may consult with--
                    ``(A) national health care professional 
                associations;
                    ``(B) national associations representing State and 
                local public health officials;
                    ``(C) organizations that assist families with 
                burial support and bereavement services;
                    ``(D) nurses and nurse practitioners;
                    ``(E) obstetricians and gynecologists;
                    ``(F) pediatricians;
                    ``(G) maternal-fetal medicine specialists;
                    ``(H) midwives;
                    ``(I) mental health professionals;
                    ``(J) statisticians;
                    ``(K) individuals who have experienced a 
                stillbirth; and
                    ``(L) advocacy organizations representing such 
                individuals.
            ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--To carry out this 
        subsection, there is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 
        for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
    ``(c) Vital Statistics Unit Defined.--In this section, the term 
`vital statistics unit' means the entity that is responsible for 
maintaining vital records for a State, or a political subdivision of 
such State, including official records of live births, deaths, fetal 
deaths, marriages, divorces, and annulments.''.

SEC. 3. PERINATAL PATHOLOGY FELLOWSHIPS.

    The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 
1122 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300c-12) the following:

``SEC. 1123. IMPROVING PERINATAL PATHOLOGY.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish and implement, or 
incorporate into an existing training program, a Perinatal Pathology 
Fellowship Program or a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship on Factors 
Associated with Stillbirth Program to--
            ``(1) provide training in perinatal autopsy pathology;
            ``(2) conduct research on, and improve data collection 
        through fetal autopsies with respect to, stillbirth; and
            ``(3) address challenges in stillbirth education, research, 
        and data collection.
    ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $3,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2023 through 2027.''.

SEC. 4. REPORTS.

    (a) Educational Guidelines Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than five years after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services shall publish on a public website of the Department of 
        Health and Human Services a report with educational guidelines 
        on stillbirth and stillbirth risk factors.
            (2) Contents.--Such report shall include, to the extent 
        practicable and appropriate, the guidelines issued and 
        educational awareness materials developed under section 317L-2 
        of the Public Health Service Act, as added by section 2 of this 
        Act.
    (b) Progress Report.--Not later than five years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
submit to the Congress a comprehensive report on the progress and 
effectiveness of the Perinatal Pathology Fellowship Program established 
under section 1123 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by 
section 3 of this Act.
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