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Senator Williams Graves urges stillbirth support grant; proposes standards for unregulated pregnancy clinics
Summary
Sen. Angela Williams Graves described SB 188, a stillbirth support grant program intended to offset out‑of‑pocket costs for families after a stillbirth, and SB 193, which would require unregulated pregnancy clinics to have a qualified medical provider and notify the Board of Health; the subcommittee requested agency data on costs and practical implementation.
Senator Angela Williams Graves briefed the subcommittee on two bills from the 2026 session. SB 188 would establish a stillborn support grant program to help individuals who deliver a stillborn child with out‑of‑pocket costs that insurance does not cover, such as certain hospital fees and burial expenses. Graves said the measure had bipartisan support but stalled in the finance committee and that she intends to reintroduce the proposal, noting the bill had previously been proposed as a tax credit.
Members asked about evidence and implementation. Counsel and members agreed that there is limited publicly available data on families' out‑of‑pocket costs after stillbirth and that hospital systems or community organizations may hold relevant information. Commissioner Satnell suggested staff could ask hospitals (for example, systems that provide cooling systems or bereavement services) and community partners about costs to develop a budget estimate for a future grant or budget amendment.
Graves also summarized SB 193, aimed at unregulated pregnancy clinics: the bill would require such clinics to be supervised by a qualified medical provider responsible for medical care at the facility, to provide clients with contact information for that provider on request, and to notify the Board of Health of that provider's contact information. The bill proposed civil penalties of up to $3,000 for a first violation and up to $10,000 for subsequent violations. Graves said the purpose was to ensure medically supervised care and accurate information for pregnant people who seek services at those clinics.
Commissioners suggested the subcommittee could help by requesting data from VDH, hospital systems, and community grief‑support programs to better quantify costs and design an implementation pathway if the grant program is reintroduced. Graves emphasized that the intent is to provide targeted relief rather than cover all expenses and that a practical notification or application mechanism would be part of future work.
