S-2858-119
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sponsored by Cory Booker (D-NJ)
What it does
This bill would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to states for stillbirth surveillance, data collection, and public health capacity building, with $5 million per year authorized for fiscal years 2026–2030. It would also require HHS to issue guidelines to state health departments on standardizing stillbirth data collection and to develop publicly available educational materials on stillbirths, with $1 million per year authorized for that purpose. Within five years of enactment, HHS would be required to publish a public report containing educational guidelines on stillbirths and related risk factors.
Who benefits
Families who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing a stillbirth — approximately 21,000 occur in the U.S. annually. Researchers and epidemiologists who would gain access to more standardized, complete stillbirth data. State and local public health agencies that would receive federal funding and guidance. Healthcare providers (OB-GYNs, midwives, maternal-fetal medicine specialists) who would benefit from clearer reporting guidelines. Bereavement and burial support organizations that are included in the consultation process. Racial and ethnic minority communities, who experience disproportionately higher stillbirth rates and may benefit most from improved surveillance and risk factor identification.
Who is hurt
State health agencies and vital statistics units that may face administrative burdens in implementing new data collection standards, even with federal funding. Healthcare providers who may face additional documentation and reporting requirements. Taxpayers who would fund the authorized appropriations (~$30M over five years). There are no groups with direct financial or competitive interests opposed to the bill's core purpose.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the U.S. stillbirth rate — roughly 5.7 per 1,000 births — has barely declined over the past two decades, in part because data collection is fragmented, inconsistent across states, and understudied compared to infant mortality. They contend that standardized surveillance and federally coordinated research are prerequisites for identifying preventable risk factors, and point to the success of similar data-driven approaches in reducing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) rates as a model for what improved stillbirth research could achieve.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the bill authorizes $30 million in new discretionary spending without a clear mechanism to ensure the data collected will translate into actionable clinical or policy outcomes, raising questions about cost-effectiveness. They contend that existing programs — such as CDC's Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and state Fetal and Infant Mortality Review programs — already collect overlapping data, and that the bill may duplicate infrastructure rather than fill genuine gaps, potentially diverting limited public health funding from interventions with more established evidence bases.
Constitutional context
Congress has broad authority to fund public health research and data collection under the Taxing and Spending Clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 1). The grant conditions imposed on states (data de-identification and privacy compliance) are well within established Spending Clause doctrine; they are modest, clearly stated, and do not approach the coercive threshold identified in NFIB v. Sebelius (2012). No significant constitutional tension is present.
Checks and balances
Congress authorizes and appropriates funding; HHS gains limited new administrative authority to award grants and issue guidelines; states retain discretion to accept or decline grants, and all data collection requires patient consent and privacy protections under existing federal and state law.
Historical precedent
The Sudden Unexplained Infant Death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Surveillance and Research Act (2018) established a similar federal framework of grants, data standardization, and public education for infant mortality, providing a direct structural analogue.