AN ACT Relating to vital statistics; amending RCW 70.58.200; adding new sections to chapter 70.58 RCW; and providing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The certificate of live birth for any live birth occurring on or after the effective date of this section shall contain those items necessary to establish the fact of the birth and shall contain only the following information:

(a) Full name and sex of child;

(b) Date of birth, including month, day, hour, and year;

(d) Full name of father, birthplace, and age of father;

(e) Full birth name of mother, birthplace, and age of mother;

(f) Multiple births and birth order of multiple births;

(g) Signature, and relationship to child, of a parent or other informant, and date signed;

(h) Name, degree or title, address, signature, and certification of live birth by attending physician or principal attendant;

(i) Date accepted for registration and signature of local registrar;

(j) A state birth certificate number and local registration district and number; and

(k) A blank space for entry of date of death with a caption reading "date of death."

(2) In addition to the items listed in subsection (1) of this section, the certificate of live birth shall contain the following medical and social information, provided that such information is kept confidential pursuant to section 2 of this act and is clearly labeled "confidential information for public health use only":

(a) Birth weight;

(b) Pregnancy history;

(d) Residence address of mother;

(e) A blank space for entry of census tract for mother's address;

(f) Month prenatal care began;

(g) Date of last normal menses;

(h) Description of complications of pregnancy and concurrent illnesses, birth injury to child, congenital malformation, and any complication of labor and delivery, including surgery; provided that such information is essential medical information and appears in total on the face of the certificate; and

(i) Mother's and father's occupations and kind of business or industry.

(3) Subsection (2)(h) of this section shall be completed by the attending physician or such person's designated representative. The names and addresses of children born with congenital malformations who require follow-up treatment, as determined by such child's physician, shall be furnished by such physician to the local health officer if permission is granted by either parent of the child.

(4) The parent shall be asked to sign the form only after both the public portion and the confidential medical and social information items have been entered on the certificate of live birth.

(5) The state registrar shall instruct all local registrars to collect the information specified in this section with respect to certificates of live birth. Such information shall be transcribed on the certificate of live birth in use at such time and shall be limited to the information specified in this section.

(6) Information relating to concurrent illnesses, complications of pregnancy and delivery, birth injury to child, and congenital malformations shall be completed by the physician, or physician's designee. If the department of social and health services has issued uniform supplemental worksheets to facilitate completion of the certificate, the physician or physician's designee shall insert in the space provided on the confidential portion of the certificate the appropriate number or numbers listed on the supplemental worksheet. The supplemental worksheet shall be used as a worksheet only and shall not in any manner be linked with the identity of the child or the mother, nor submitted with the certificate to the state registrar. All information transferred from the worksheet to the certificate shall be fully explained to the mother prior to her signing the certificate. No questions relating to drug or alcohol abuse may be asked.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The second section of the certificate of live birth as specified in section 1(2) of this act shall be confidential. Access to such portion of any certificate of live birth shall be limited to the following:

(a) The department of social and health services staff;

(b) The local registrar's staff and local health department staff when approved by the local registrar or local health officer, respectively;

(c) Persons with a valid scientific interest, as determined by the state registrar, who are engaged in demographic, epidemiological, or other similar studies related to health, and who agree to maintain confidentiality as prescribed by this chapter and by rule of the state registrar;

(d) The parent who signed the certificate;

(e) The person named on the certificate; and

(f) Any person who has petitioned to adopt the person named on the certificate, subject to chapter 26.33 RCW.

(2) The department of social and health services shall maintain an accurate record of all persons who are given access to the confidential portion of the certificate. Such record shall include: (a) The name of the person authorizing access; (b) the name, title, and organizational affiliation of persons given access; (c) the dates of access; and (d) the specific purpose for which information is to be used. The record of access shall be open to public inspection during normal operating hours of the department of social and health services.

(3) All research proposed to be conducted using the confidential medical and social information on the birth certificate shall first be reviewed by the appropriate committee constituted for the protection of human subjects which is approved by the federal department of health and human services and has a general assurance pursuant to Part 46 of Title 45 of the code of federal regulations. No information may be released until the request for information has been reviewed by the vital statistics advisory committee and the committee has recommended to the state registrar that that information be released.

(4) When the original forms of certificates of live birth furnished by the state registrar contain a printed section at the bottom containing medical and social data or labeled "confidential information for public health use only," that section shall not be reproduced in a certified copy of the record except as specifically authorized in this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. After public hearing and consultation with the vital statistics advisory committee, the state registrar shall adopt rules specifying the contents of a medical and health report and shall supply the necessary forms to hospitals and local registrars. The contents of the report shall be limited to the medical, health, or social data necessary to evaluate or improve maternal and child health, as determined by the state registrar.

The state registrar shall make a finding that the specific items of information included in the report are not available from other sources at a comparable cost and that sufficient resources and a research design are available to analyze the data collected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) For each registration of live birth submitted to the local registrar, the hospital administrator, or such person's representative, shall submit a completed medical and health report which meets the requirements of section 3 of this act. For live births which occur outside of a hospital, the medical and health report shall be completed and submitted by the local registrar when the local registrar receives the certificate of live birth for registration.

(2) The medical and health report shall be submitted to the state registrar by the local registrar for filing. The report shall not be kept on file in the offices of the local registrars.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The medical and health report required pursuant to section 3 of this act shall be clearly labeled "confidential information for public health use only." The parent or informant shall be informed of the purposes for collecting the information, its confidential nature, and that completing the specific items is voluntary.

(2) When objection is made by either parent to the furnishing of information requested in a specific item or items in the medical and health report, the information shall not be entered.

(3) The mother, father, and child shall not be identified by name or any other means in the medical and health report.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) With the exception of statistical tabulation purposes, the medical and health report shall be kept confidential and access to the report shall be limited to the following persons:

(a) The state and local registrar's staff;

(b) The state and local health department staff; and

(c) Persons with a valid educational or scientific interest, as determined by the state registrar, who are engaged in demographic and epidemiological studies for health purposes.

(2) The department of social and health services shall maintain an accurate record of all persons who are given access to the report. Such record shall include: (a) The name of the persons authorizing access; (b) the name, title, and organizational affiliation of persons given access; (c) the dates of access; and (d) the specific purpose for which information is to be used. The record of access shall be open to public inspection during normal operating hours of the department of social and health services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) The state registrar shall appoint a vital statistics advisory committee which shall have the following duties:

(a) Review and make recommendations to the state registrar as to the adequacy of procedures to assure accuracy and confidentiality of personal health and medical information;

(b) Review the findings of the committee for the protection of human subjects pursuant to section 2(3) of this act and make recommendations to the state registrar regarding all requests for studies that propose to use confidential information with respect to whether a legitimate scientific interest is presented and whether the significance of the project justifies use of the confidential information;

(c) Assure that all research conducted using the data from birth certificates is consistent with guidelines provided by an appropriately constituted committee for the protection of human subjects of the department, as specified in section 2(3) of this act;

(d) Review and make recommendations to the state registrar as to proposals for addition or deletion of items on the certificate of live birth and advise the state registrar on the content and format of the certificate; and

(e) Take testimony and make recommendations to the state registrar regarding changes in the birth registration system.

(2) The vital statistics advisory committee shall include representatives from the users, providers, and informant groups who are involved in the process of the provision and collection of information for and the use of the certificate of live birth, and shall include the two chairpersons, or their designated representatives, of the relevant committees of the senate and house of representatives. The advisory committee shall have a majority of lay persons in its composition. The state registrar shall make every effort to ensure that committee membership is representative of the community at large. Consideration shall be given to providing access to relevant classes of persons including, but not limited to, women, men, and racial and ethnic minorities, in proportion to their representation in the affected population.

Membership on the committee shall be for a term of three years, appointments to be made on a staggered basis to allow for one-third membership to change annually.

(3) Within thirty days of receipt of recommendations by the vital statistics advisory committee made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the state registrar shall publish (a) a list of the recommendations adopted, and (b) a list of the recommendations not adopted, with reasons for such action.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) Any person who releases a copy of the confidential portion of the certificate of live birth, except as specifically provided by this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars or six months in jail. Such criminal penalty shall not preclude suit for damages by any individuals harmed by the unauthorized release.

(2) Any person who is the subject of, or the source of information for, a birth certificate, who has reason to believe there has been linkage of confidential information with his or her identity and disclosure of such confidential information to a person not specified in section 2(1) of this act has a civil right of action against the person releasing such information and may seek punitive damages.

Sec. 9. Section 6, chapter 159, Laws of 1945 as last amended by section 2, chapter 162, Laws of 1979 ex. sess. and RCW 70.58.200 are each amended to read as follows:

The forms of ((~~birth,~~)) death, fetal death, marriage, and decrees of divorce, annulment, or separate maintenance certificates filed with the state registrar of vital statistics shall include the items required by the respective standard certificate as recommended by the federal agency responsible for national vital statistics, except that no information shall be required on the certificate of divorce relative to the date the couple separated or the number of children under eighteen years of age: PROVIDED, That none of the information contained in the confidential section of the forms of marriage, divorce, annulment or separate maintenance shall be required((: PROVIDED FURTHER, That no information shall be required on the certificate of live birth relative to the education of the parents of the child. The Washington state board of health by regulation may require additional pertinent information relative to the birth and manner of delivery as it may deem necessary for statistical study. This information shall be placed in a confidential section of the birth certificate form and shall not be subject to the view of the public or for certification purposes except upon order of a court)): PROVIDED, That the state board of health may eliminate from the forms any such items that it determines are not necessary for statistical study.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Sections 1 through 8 of this act are each added to chapter 70.58 RCW.