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To establish at the outset my bona fides for commenting on this matter, I am a mother of three (grown) children and never experienced either a stillbirth or an abortion. I am also a committed pro-choicer, and in fact was President of the Westchester County (NY) chapter of NOW back in 1973 or thereabouts. Yet when I first read of this controversy in the SF Chronicle, my sympathies immediately went to the mother of the stillborn (even though I don't regard myself as ideally [excessively?]) maternal. I was surprised to learn that the objection was coming from the pro-choice side, and wonder if my pro-choice sisters might not be a bit too rigid in this case.
I can understand why the mother of a stillborn infant, who was able to see and hold the dead baby, might wish for a more dignified memorial than a death certificate. The birth certificate would acknowledge that she had indeed carried the fetus, with everything that that entails, and had intended for it to be born alive.
Since some states do issue birth certificates under such circumstances (a fact of which I was unaware), a precedent has been established, and I think my home state of California should follow suit.
