Definitions:

Definitions: 1. “Abortion” means the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug or any other substance or device to terminate the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with an intention other than to increase the probability of a live birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live birth or to remove a dead fetus. 2. “Agency,” in the contexts of an adoption, means a county welfare department, a licensed or non-licensed adoption agency or any other legally authorized individual or entity assisting in the finalization of an adoption. 3. “Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth” means a birth certificate issued to record and memorialize the birth of a stillborn child. This document shall include the statement “This certificate is not proof of live birth”. 4. “County Medical Examiner” means a licensed physician who is a coroner or a deputy coroner trained to investigate and certify deaths affecting the public interest. 5. “County Medical Examiner Investigator” means a non-physician coroner or deputy coroner trained to investigate and certify deaths affecting the public interest. 6. “Death” means when an individual has sustained either an irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards. 7. “Dead Body” means a human body or parts of such human body, the condition of which may reasonably lead to the conclusion that death has occurred. 8. “Embalming” means the disinfection of the dead human body by replacing certain body fluids with preserving and disinfecting chemicals. 9. “Father” means the male to whom the ‘mother’ was married at the time of conception or birth or at any time between conception and birth or, in the absence of marriage, the male who has acknowledged or been identified by court order under the appropriate statutes of the Mississippi Code of 1972, Annotated, as being the father of the fetus or child. 10. “Fetal Death” means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of duration of pregnancy; the death is indicated by the fact that after such expulsion or extraction the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles. 11. “Filing” means the presentation and acceptance of a vital record for registration by the Office of Vital Records. 12. “Final Disposition” means the burial, interment, cremation, removal from the state or other authorized disposition of a dead body or fetus. 13. “Health Care Provider” means a licensed person or organization that provides health care services. 14. “Induced Termination of Pregnancy” means the intentional termination of pregnancy with the intention other than to produce a live-born infant or to remove a dead fetus. 15. “Informant” means the person or organization who is listed on the vital record as the informant who provides information for the registration of said vital record. 16. “Institution” means any establishment, public or private, which provides in- patient medical, surgical, or diagnostic care or treatment, or nursing, custodial or domiciliary care to four or more unrelated individuals, or to which persons are committed by law. 17. “Legal Representative” means attorney, physician, funeral director, or other authorized agent acting on behalf of the registrant or his or her family. 18. “Licensed Adoption Agency” means any agency or organization performing adoption services duly licensed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, Division of Family and Children’s Services. 19. “Live Birth” means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which, after such expulsion or extraction, breathes or shows other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached. 20. “Medical Examiner” means the state Medical Examiner, county medical examiners and county medical examiner investors collectively, unless otherwise specified. 21. “Medical Treatment” means the management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder and includes, but is not limited to, hospitalization, laboratory tests, surgery or prescription drugs. 22. “Mother” means the female from whom a live birth or fetal death was expulsed or extracted, and to whom the umbilical cord and placenta were attached, or whom a court order specifies as the mother of the fetus or child. 23. “Physician” means a person authorized or licensed under the laws of the state to practice medicine or osteopathy. 24. “Registration” means the acceptance by the Office of Vital Records and the incorporation of a vital record into its official records.. 25. “Reporting” means the submission of information relating to a vital event to the Office of Vital Records for medical, health, statistical, or administrative uses, but not for incorporation into its permanent official records. 26. “State Medical Examiner” means the physician, board certified in forensic pathology, appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety to investigate and certify deaths which affect the public interest.. 27. “Stillbirth” or “Stillborn” means an unintended, intrauterine fetal death occurring in this state after a gestational age of not less than twenty (20) completed weeks, or a weight of 350 grams or more. Stillbirths are required to be reported as Fetal Deaths. 28. “System of Vital Statistics” includes the collection, registration, preservation, amendment, and certification of vital records; the collection of other required reports on vital events; and activities related thereto, including the tabulation, analysis, and publication of vital statistics. 29. “Verifiable Midwife” means a ‘lay’ or ‘granny’ midwife whose identity and initial delivery has been documented by an authorized representative of the State Registrar of Vital Records, or a midwife that has been certified by a state or nationally recognized organization. 30. “Vital Events” means the occurrences of live births, deaths, fetal deaths, induced termination of pregnancy, adoptions, marriages, divorces and annulments. 31. “Vital Records” means certificates or reports of the following categories of vital events; births, deaths, marriages, divorces and annulments and data related thereto. 32. “Vital Statistics” means the data derived from certificates and reports of all categories of vital events and related reports.