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When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman's responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The Bill: The Most Odious Infringement on the Privacy of Virginia women...ever
Delegate Cosgrove?s bill is an outrageous attack on the privacy of Virginia women. Consider this - there is no law mandating that a woman must report a pregnancy to the Commonwealth, or even seek medical treatment for one. But this bill proposes that a woman report a LOSS of a pregnancy to the Commonwealth, whatever the gestational age of the embryo/fetus.
Furthermore, this bill means that a woman who experiences a spontaneous loss of pregnancy will have her privacy violated significantly more than if she had chosen an abortion. Though Virginia requires that induced terminations of pregnancy be reported, those reporting forms require only a ?patient number? and information on the procedure. The ?report of fetal death? asks for the woman?s full name, her history of prenatal care, her marital status, her education history, her previous deliveries (if any), and a number of other very intrusive data items.
If the miscarriage occurred under a physician?s care, all of this information would be provided by the physician out of the patient?s medical records. Physicians and/or funeral directors are given 24 hours to file this report. Delegate Cosgrove?s bill gives women who experience miscarriage without a doctor only 12 hours to report, adding insult to injury.
When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman's responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The Bill: The Most Odious Infringement on the Privacy of Virginia women...ever
Delegate Cosgrove?s bill is an outrageous attack on the privacy of Virginia women. Consider this - there is no law mandating that a woman must report a pregnancy to the Commonwealth, or even seek medical treatment for one. But this bill proposes that a woman report a LOSS of a pregnancy to the Commonwealth, whatever the gestational age of the embryo/fetus.
Furthermore, this bill means that a woman who experiences a spontaneous loss of pregnancy will have her privacy violated significantly more than if she had chosen an abortion. Though Virginia requires that induced terminations of pregnancy be reported, those reporting forms require only a ?patient number? and information on the procedure. The ?report of fetal death? asks for the woman?s full name, her history of prenatal care, her marital status, her education history, her previous deliveries (if any), and a number of other very intrusive data items.
If the miscarriage occurred under a physician?s care, all of this information would be provided by the physician out of the patient?s medical records. Physicians and/or funeral directors are given 24 hours to file this report. Delegate Cosgrove?s bill gives women who experience miscarriage without a doctor only 12 hours to report, adding insult to injury.
