Sponsor and bereaved mother urge committee to advance bill funding burial assistance for stillbirths; measure rolled for changes
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Summary
Senate Bill 1565 would allow the Department of Health to use Title V Maternal & Child Health block-grant funds to help women cover burial or disposition costs after stillbirth and to provide related scholarships. Witness Jacqueline Townsend testified about founding Invisible Footprints after her own stillbirth; the committee rolled the bill for two weeks so the sponsor can refine language.
Senate Bill 1565, presented by Senator Lamar, would authorize the Tennessee Department of Health to, within federal rules for Title V Maternal & Child Health Services block grants, establish a program to provide funds to women whose pregnancies ended in stillbirth to help offset burial or disposition costs and to support educational scholarships for affected women.
Senator Lamar cited the 2024 stillbirth figure of 538 and framed the bill as a way to provide immediate, compassionate support for grieving families. Jacqueline Townsend, founder and CEO of Invisible Footprints and a bereaved mother, testified about her experience delivering a stillborn child in 2021 and described the Baby Fat Fund, which the nonprofit runs to support families facing burial and disposition costs.
Townsend told the committee that families are often discharged without clear guidance and are forced to make rapid, costly decisions; she said SB1565 would move the state from data collection to real-time family support. Senator Lamar asked for two weeks to refine the bill language; the committee rolled the item to allow further drafting and consultation.
No final vote was taken on SB1565 at the hearing.