A US senator has introduced legislation requiring hospitals and freestanding birth centres to inform parents of their rights to arrange burial or cremation following a miscarriage or stillbirth.

Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas and a former obstetrician-gynaecologist, introduced the Bereaved Parents Rights Act on May 13. Representative Kat Cammack, a Republican from Florida, has introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

The proposed law would amend Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require hospitals and freestanding birth centres to notify parents of their options after pregnancy loss. According to Senator Marshall’s office, parents would have to be informed no later than six hours after the miscarriage or stillbirth, or before discharge, whichever came first.

The bill would require parents to be told of their options for private burial, common burial, cremation or disposition by the hospital or birth centre, using a form developed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If a parent elected in writing within 72 hours to arrange burial or cremation, the facility would have to follow the fetal death disposition options available under state law.

Senator Marshall, who practised as an obstetrician-gynaecologist for more than 25 years, said families should be met with “compassion and clarity” after the loss of a child. “No law can take away that pain, but we can ensure parents are informed of their rights and given the opportunity to make decisions for their child with the respect every family deserves,” he said.

Representative Cammack, who has spoken publicly about her own experience of an ectopic pregnancy, said: “Any parent who has lost a child needs the space, opportunity, and resources to properly grieve that child.” She added that the issue was “not a partisan issue” but “a human issue”.

Supporters of the legislation say current rules on the handling of fetal remains after miscarriage or stillbirth vary significantly by state. Senator Marshall’s office said many states have no clear legal requirements, leaving hospitals to rely on internal policies and procedures and causing confusion for grieving parents.

Students for Life Action is backing the measure and lobbying members of Congress to support it. Kristan Hawkins, the organisation’s president, said the legislation was intended to ensure that parents had the same basic information regardless of the state or hospital in which they experienced pregnancy loss.

A legislative briefing on May 13 included testimony from women affected by miscarriage and stillbirth. Sarah Wirtz said she waited three days before going to hospital after her son’s death in utero because she was trying to establish whether she would be able to keep his body. She said she was eventually able to bury her son Noah in Ohio, but had been told she would not have had the same legal rights in California at his gestational age.

The bill would also allow an individual harmed by a violation of the notice requirements to bring a civil action in federal court.

Catholic organisations have long supported families experiencing pregnancy loss through funeral rites, burial arrangements and pastoral care. Heaven’s Gain Ministries, a Catholic organisation mentioned during the briefing, assists families after miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss.

Supporters say the Bereaved Parents Rights Act addresses a basic pastoral and humanitarian concern by ensuring that parents are not left without clear information at a moment of acute grief. Senator Marshall’s office said the legislation is intended to give parents the opportunity to make decisions “with the respect every family deserves”.

The measure has not yet secured Democratic co-sponsors, according to EWTN News. Its prospects in Congress remain unclear.