Sec. 6. (a) If the parent or parents choose a location of final disposition other than the location of final disposition that is usual and customary for the health care facility, the parent or parents are responsible for the costs related to the final disposition of the fetus at the chosen location.

     (b) A health care facility having possession of a miscarried fetus shall provide for the final disposition of the miscarried fetus. The burial transit permit requirements under IC 16-37-3 apply to the final disposition of the miscarried fetus, which must be cremated or interred. However:

Terms Used In Indiana Code 16-21-11-6

  • health care facility: means any of the following:

    Indiana Code 16-21-11-1

  • miscarried fetus: means an unborn child, irrespective of gestational age, who has died from a spontaneous or accidental death before expulsion or extraction from the unborn child's mother, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy. See Indiana Code 16-21-11-2
  • person in charge of interment: means a person who places or causes to be placed the body of a miscarried fetus who has a gestational age of less than twenty (20) weeks of age or the ashes, after cremation, in a grave, vault, urn, or other receptacle, or who otherwise disposes of the body or ashes. See Indiana Code 16-21-11-3
(1) a person is not required to designate a name for the miscarried fetus on the burial transit permit and the space for a name may remain blank; and

(2) any information submitted under this section that may be used to identify the parent or parents is confidential and must be redacted from any public records maintained under IC 16-37-3.

Miscarried fetuses may be cremated by simultaneous cremation.

     (c) The local health officer shall provide the person in charge of interment with a permit for the disposition of the body. A certificate of stillbirth is not required to be issued for a final disposition of a miscarried fetus having a gestational age of less than twenty (20) weeks.

     (d) IC 23-14-31-26, IC 23-14-55-2, IC 25-15-9-18, and IC 29-2-19-17 concerning the authorization of disposition of human remains apply to this section.

As added by P.L.127-2014, SEC.4. Amended by P.L.213-2016, SEC.11.

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