Today was a very historic day for Nebraska (and for me personally). LB1048 was introduced into the legislature. If passed, this law would issue birth certificates for stillborns. This may come as a surprise to you, but parents in the state of Nebraska do NOT receive birth certificates when their baby is stillborn currently. By law, parents have to handle the remains of their baby when it’s stillborn, they receive a death certificate, but no birth certificate is issued even though the process for delivering a stillborn baby is the same as one that is born alive.
Most of you probably remember that my son, Carter, was stillborn at 35 weeks due to a heart defect back on January 12, 2005. He would’ve been 3 years old last weekend. Now, we HAVE a birth certificate for him since (Thank God) he was born in Arizona and not Nebraska. Arizona was the first state to pass this law, and since then, 20 other states have also passed this law. I am working to get this bill passed in Nebraska in his memory and to help other parents in Nebraska get some closure. It’s really kind of embarrassing to think that this law isn’t already in affect in the state.
I have been corresponding with Senators in Nebraska over the past year to get this bill sponsored but they have all been “too busy”. Last Friday, another mom, Trish, and I met with Senator Fulton in Lincoln to discuss the issue. He was 90% certain he would sponsor the bill but wanted to know that other Senators would support it as well.
A sidenote about Trish: her son, Myles, was born sleeping this past Thanksgiving. I am very proud of her for being able to share her story and get involved in this process so soon. She’s a strong person. We make a good team.
On Tuesday of this week, we met with Senator Nantkes. She is a rockstar and introduced the bill today to the legislature. Senator Fulton is one of the co-sponsors.
On Tuesday, after our meeting with Senator Nantkes, I was driving for quite a while behind a truck that read: Carter Express. I think it was a sign.
You can view the text of the bill here:
http://uniweb.legislature.ne.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Intro/LB1048.pdf
My family has been communicating with a few other Senators from the western part of the state. We also met with Senators Hansen, Gay and Chambers this week. You may have heard of the latter. I won’t state our conversation with him here, however, Google Ernie Chambers and you’ll get the idea of how he is. Ha!
I feel really energized and proud that this is finally coming to fruition. I think I’ll sleep well tonight - it’s been a long week and we have a long journey ahead of us.
Please stay tuned to hear of our progress. I’ll be asking other fellow Nebraskans for support. Please contact me if you’re immediately interested in assisting. Pass this on to anyone else that you know that may have been affected by a stillbirth.
To see the status of the bill, visit:
http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/web/public/home
And search for LB 1048
For more information:
www.missingangelsbill.org
