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LouisianaSB 322026 Regular SessionSenateWALLET

HEALTH/HOSPITALS DEPT: Establishes a Perinatal Bereavement Care Initiative within the Louisiana Department of Health. (8/1/26) (EN INCREASE GF EX See Note)

Sponsored By: Patrick McMath (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Health and Welfare

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

More support for grieving Louisiana families

Beginning August 1, 2026, Angel’s Law creates Louisiana’s Perinatal Bereavement Care Initiative to improve care after pregnancy or infant loss. The Department of Health runs it through its Office on Women’s Health and Community Health. It coordinates with the Commission on Perinatal Care and Prevention of Infant Mortality and nonprofit groups. Hospitals with maternity or newborn intensive care units receive staff training and help finding grief counseling and support groups. The initiative provides cooling devices for any family experiencing fetal death, stillbirth, newborn death, or infant death at the hospital. Nurses using these devices must receive device training or complete a perinatal bereavement certificate program. The office identifies eligible hospitals, prioritizing those lacking devices, treating many high-risk maternal patients, and delivering many babies. The department can seek voluntary funding, including federal funds, gifts, grants, and donations, for the initiative; no amount is specified. Annual reports to the Senate and House health committees are required each February 1 from 2027 through 2030. Reports cover eligible and participating hospitals, funding received and used, devices distributed, and staff training completed.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Patrick McMath

    Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

  • Adam Bass

    Republican • Senate

  • Bob Hensgens

    Republican • Senate

  • Cameron Henry

    Republican • Senate

  • Franklin J. Foil

    Republican • Senate

  • Gary Carter

    Democratic • Senate

  • Gerald Boudreaux

    Democratic • Senate

  • Heather Cloud

    Republican • Senate

  • Jimmy Harris

    Democratic • Senate

  • Katrina R. Jackson-Andrews

    Democratic • Senate

  • Mark Abraham

    Republican • Senate

  • Michael "Big Mike" Fesi

    Republican • Senate

  • Patrick Connick

    Republican • Senate

  • Regina Barrow

    Democratic • Senate

  • Rick Edmonds

    Republican • Senate

  • Robert Allain

    Republican • Senate

  • Royce Duplessis

    Democratic • Senate

  • Sidney Barthelemy II

    Democratic • Senate

  • Stewart Cathey Jr.

    Republican • Senate

  • Valarie Hodges

    Republican • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 142 • No: 0

House vote • 5/7/2026

Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 97, nays 0. Finally passed, ordered to the Senate.

Yes: 97 • No: 0

House vote • 4/28/2026

Reported with amendments

Yes: 10 • No: 0

Senate vote • 3/23/2026

Read by title, passed by a vote of 35 yeas and 0 nays, and sent to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

Yes: 35 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 346.

    5/22/2026Senate

  2. Effective date 8/1/2026.

    5/22/2026Senate

  3. Sent to the Governor by the Secretary of the Senate.

    5/20/2026Senate

  4. Enrolled. Signed by the President of the Senate.

    5/19/2026Senate

  5. Signed by the Speaker of the House.

    5/19/2026House

  6. Received from the House with amendments.

    5/11/2026Senate

  7. Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 97, nays 0. Finally passed, ordered to the Senate.

    5/7/2026House

  8. Scheduled for floor debate on 05/07/2026.

    5/6/2026House

  9. Read by title, amended, passed to 3rd reading.

    5/5/2026House

  10. Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments.

    4/29/2026House

  11. Reported with amendments (10-0). Referred to the Legislative Bureau.

    4/28/2026House

  12. Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.

    3/25/2026House

  13. Received in the House from the Senate, read by title, lies over under the rules.

    3/24/2026House

  14. Read by title, passed by a vote of 35 yeas and 0 nays, and sent to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

    3/23/2026Senate

  15. Read by title. Committee amendments read and adopted. Ordered engrossed and passed to third reading and final passage.

    3/16/2026Senate

  16. Reported with amendments.

    3/11/2026Senate

  17. Introduced in the Senate; read by title. Rules suspended. Read second time and referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.

    3/9/2026Senate

  18. Prefiled and under the rules provisionally referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.

    2/4/2026Senate

Bill Text

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