House Bill 2177 (H-2554.1), 69th Legislature (2026), amends the definition of "fetal death" in RCW 70.58A.010 to specify that gestational age is measured "at the date of death based on the best clinically accurate gestational age" and retains an alternative criterion that a fetal death may be defined by a weight of 350 grams or more if weeks of gestation are not known. The bill also contains extended statutory definitions for many terms used in the vital records chapter (including medical certifier, funeral director/establishment, live birth, registration, state registrar, and others) and cites prior amendment notes to RCW 70.58A.010 (2020 c 312 s 729 and 2025 c 58 s 5138). This is a statutory definitional and procedural change to the vital records chapter administered by the Department of Health and the state registrar; it does not create a new crime or change criminal penalties in the extracted text. The act includes timing provisions: Section 1 is set to expire June 30, 2027, and Section 2 is set to take effect June 30, 2027. The extracted material is incomplete: the operative contents of Section 1 and Section 2 are not provided here, the beginning of the definitions text is truncated, and the relationship between the two separate amendment citations to RCW 70.58A.010 is unclear from the available facts.

If enacted, clinicians and the offices that register vital events will need to rely on clinical judgment about gestational age at the date of death to decide whether a pregnancy loss meets the threshold for a fetal death report, with a fallback to a 350‑gram weight only when weeks of gestation are unknown. That will likely increase time spent by physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, midwives, hospital staff, coroners, and local registrars reviewing records and making or documenting clinical estimates, and it could change how many losses are recorded and counted in Washington’s vital statistics. The Department of Health and state and local registrars will implement and apply the new standard, creating modest administrative burden and some risk of inconsistent determinations across providers and counties. The act also includes timing provisions—Section 1 expires June 30, 2027, and Section 2 takes effect June 30, 2027—but the extracted text does not show what those sections contain, so the exact transitional rules and when specific changes take effect remain unclear.