Governor approves dignity protocol for fetuses under 20 weeks.

Across U.S. jurisdictions, parents are legally recognized to claim and respectfully handle fetal remains from early-stage gestational losses.

By THE STAR STAFF

Governor Jenniffer González Colón signed Law 42-2026, creating a special mechanism that allows, at the request of the parents and with medical authorization, the dignified handling of fetal remains from pregnancies under twenty (20) weeks.

The Senate Project (PS 756) was authored by Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz and Senator Joanne Rodríguez Veve, with co-authors Wilmer Reyes, Jeison Rosa, Brenda Pérez, Rafael Santos, Luis D. Colón, and Ángel Toledo.

The law amends the Regulated Biomedical Waste Management Act so that human fetal remains resulting from gestational losses before twenty (20) weeks of pregnancy are no longer considered regulated biomedical waste, regardless of weight, when the mother or father formally requests their release according to protocols adopted by the Department of Health.

It also amends the Puerto Rico Funeral Services Act, authorizing funeral homes to receive, and prohibiting them from rejecting, fetal remains from gestational losses under twenty (20) weeks, provided they are accompanied by a special certificate for registration and disposition.

The Department of Health will prepare a special certificate for the registration of stillborn children. These will be recorded in a special book, and the certificates will be archived separately in the Department of Health in the usual manner. Instead of the child’s name, the certificate will read “stillborn.” Certificates will not be required for fetuses under five months of intrauterine gestation, except when requested by the mother or father.

The law received explicit support from the Hospital Association and the Department of Health. In its memorandum, the Department stated: “Current legislation automatically classifies these remains as biomedical waste, without offering parents the option of claiming them or arranging dignified disposition. This regulatory gap contrasts with the public policy established in the Constitution of Puerto Rico, which recognizes the inviolability of human dignity and the importance of respectful treatment of human remains. Likewise, the measure addresses the emotional, spiritual, and social dimensions accompanying such losses.”

Similar measures exist in other U.S. jurisdictions, recognizing parents’ right to claim and handle fetal remains from early-stage gestational losses.