U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, a Republican who represents Trumbull County, is a lead sponsor on a bipartisan bill seeking to improve data collection to reduce stillbirths.

It’s at least the fifth time the bill has been introduced in Congress.

The Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act seeks to reduce stillbirths by enhancing data collection, research, education and awareness through federal grants and programs.

Joyce, R-Bainbridge, said: “Despite spending the most money on health care per capita in the world, the United States has failed to make significant improvements when it comes to understanding and preventing stillbirths. Congress must step up to prevent this avoidable loss of life.”

Joyce added: “This legislation marks a long-overdue step forward in addressing stillbirths, advancing maternal and infant health, and ensuring the United States catches up to where it should be in prioritizing this critical issue.”

The bill was introduced in the House and Senate with bipartisan sponsorship.

The bill has been introduced in every congressional session going back to at least 2017. It failed to go anywhere in 2017 and 2019. It passed the House on Dec. 8, 2021, by a 408-18 vote, but died in the Senate. It was again introduced July 27, 2023, and passed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce 45-0, but never made it to the House floor for consideration.

The bill would give the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services the ability to award grants for surveillance and data collection on stillbirths and require the department to issue guidelines for health departments and vital statistics units concerning the collection of stillbirth data as well as require it to develop educational awareness materials about stillbirths and make them publicly available.

The bill also would require the department to implement a fellowship program to provide training in perinatal autopsy pathology and support research on stillbirths and fetal autopsies.

Stillbirths affect about 1 in 175 births in the United States, about 21,000 annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bill is named for Autumn Joy Vijayvergiya, a baby stillborn in 2011 in New Jersey.