Sponsors (5)
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Thomas Bryant Cotton · Last progress July 23, 2025
The bill provides job-protected leave and a refundable stillbirth tax credit to give bereaved parents medical, bereavement, and financial support, but creates privacy and documentation requirements, administrative burdens, and modest fiscal costs that may delay access for some and exclude certain noncitizens.
Parents and pregnant employees (and their spouses) can take job-protected FMLA leave after a spontaneous pregnancy loss to recover, seek care, or grieve.
Bereaved parents can claim a refundable federal tax credit equal to the child tax credit for the year of a stillbirth, providing direct financial relief to affected families.
Low‑income bereaved parents can receive the full refundable credit even if they have little or no income tax liability, increasing access to financial support for the poorest families after a stillbirth.
Employees may be required to provide medical certifications that disclose personal health details, creating privacy concerns and additional time and paperwork burdens.
Requiring timely provider certifications could delay access to leave for employees who lack quick access to health care, limiting immediate relief after a loss.
Small and private employers may face new administrative burdens and staffing challenges managing intermittent leave, certifications, and substitution of paid leave.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Adds federal leave rights for spontaneous fetal loss and creates a refundable tax credit equal to the child tax credit for qualifying stillbirths.
Creates a new federal leave right and a refundable tax credit tied to pregnancy loss. It adds a defined FMLA- and federal employee-type leave for a "spontaneous loss of an unborn child," allows intermittent or reduced-schedule leave when medically needed, permits substitution of paid leave, sets a reasonable-notice standard, and allows employer/agency certification. It also creates a refundable personal tax credit equal to the child tax credit for taxpayers who suffered a qualifying stillbirth and who provide a state-issued certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth.