Health Department says fetal‑death and termination records remain confidential; supports shortening one retention period

Jesse Hammond of the Vermont Department of Health told the committee that fetal‑death reports (generally for fetal deaths at 20 or more weeks’ gestation or, when gestational age is unknown, at 400 grams or more) and induced terminations of pregnancy are not available to the public and that the department shares only deidentified aggregate data for national reporting.

“Our program produces a bulletin annually that summarizes all vital events,” Hammond said, and added that “individual fetal‑death reports are not released,” while the department provides deidentified data to the Centers for Disease Control as required by contract.

Committee members asked whether the department collects identifying information for induced terminations of pregnancy and whether federal requirements could force disclosure. Hammond said the department does not collect the birthing parent’s identifying information for induced terminations; that information remains with the provider or hospital.

A member asked whether the department had concerns about the bill’s proposal to change a confidentiality/retention period from five years to two years; Hammond said the department had no concerns with the proposed change.

Hammond summarized the public‑health uses of vital records: monitoring trends in causes of death and birth interventions, supporting program evaluation, and providing annual summary statistics. He noted that fetal‑death reports and induced termination records are used in aggregate analysis but are not released individually to the public.