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General Laws

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Section 1Certificates of birth, marriage, death and acknowledgments and adjudications of paternity; contents; residence defined
Section 11/2Certificates of birth resulting in stillbirth; filing
Section 1ABirth records of abandoned children or foundlings
Section 1BFiling reports of out-of-state births or adoptions
Section 1CFiling reports of out-of-state deaths
Section 1DAdoption of surname upon marriage
Section 1EDefinitions
Section 2Separate registries for births, deaths and marriages
Section 2ADisclosure of information about vital statistics; conditions
Section 2BPre-adoption birth certificates; application for inspection by adopted persons
Section 2CPre-adoption birth certificates; access by child of deceased adopted parent
Section 3Physician’s record of birth; out of hospital birth
Section 3AHospital administrator’s duties; report; verification
Section 3BBirth without immediate admittance to hospital for postnatal care; report
Section 3CChildren born out of wedlock; information regarding benefits and responsibilities of parentage; voluntary acknowledgment of parentage
Section 3DAcknowledgments and adjudications of paternity; records available to IV-D agency
Section 4Birth without attending physician; report; recording; petition; hearing
Section 4ALocal officials; processing of birth certificates
Section 4BArtificial insemination
Section 5Repealed, 1968, 84, Sec. 5
Section 6Notification of births and deaths
Section 7Report of births and deaths at sea
Section 7AReport of births on airplanes; penalty for violation
Section 8Penalty for failure to report births and deaths
Section 9Death certificates; issuance; contents; declaration of death by nurse, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant
Section 9ARepealed, 1977, 598, Sec. 1
Section 9BPenalties
Section 10Death certificates of veterans; contents; penalty for violation
Section 11Duties of undertakers
Section 12Certified copies of birth certificates and death records; transmission to parents or next of kin; exceptions
Section 13Correction of records
Section 13ACorrection of birth records; procedure
Section 14Penalty for false returns
Section 15Repealed, 2010, 327, Sec. 1
Section 16Blank forms for vital records; security features; approval of non-state registrar supplied forms; standards for forms used for permanent records
Section 17Birth records; state registrar; originals; certified copies
Section 17AMarriage records; state registrar; originals; certified copies
Section 17BDeath records; state registrar; originals; certified copies
Section 17COriginal forms and evidence of amendments and corrections in birth, marriage and death records
Section 17DAmended birth, marriage and death records; certified copies to holders of originals
Section 18Script used on forms; state standards for uniformity, security, materials, devices and preservation
Section 19Use of records as evidence
Section 19AUnauthorized reproduction of records; penalty
Section 19BCertified copies of birth records; restricted information regarding mother
Section 19CAuthentication of copies of birth, marriage and death records; use as evidence
Section 20Births and deaths in Tewksbury Hospital; records
Section 21Repealed, 1976, 486, Sec. 15
Section 22Registrars of vital statistics
Section 23Prosecution of persons failing to file required reports
Section 24Statements of births and deaths; penalty
Section 25Disposition of fines and forfeitures
Section 26Fees
Section 27Clerks; penalty for neglecting required duties
Section 28Administration of oaths
Section 29Attestation of certificates
Section 30Alteration, forgery or counterfeiting; penalty
Section 31Adoption contact information registry
Section 32Reasonable cause to believe there has been misconduct regarding vital records; actions by clerk and state registrar
Section 33Centralized, automated database for vital records and statistics; certified copies issued from database; capacity requirements of database; maintenance and preservation of original paper records
Section 34Agreements to verify existence of birth, marriage or death records