Congress expands leave for miscarriage, adds tax credit for stillbirth
S. 2418 — HEALING Mothers and Fathers Act · Filed by Tom Cotton (R-AR) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 23, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill expands the Family and Medical Leave Act to allow employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for miscarriage (spontaneous loss of an unborn child), applies the same leave entitlement to federal civil service employees, and creates a new federal tax credit equal to the child tax credit amount for individuals who experience a stillbirth and obtain a state birth certificate documenting it.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is adding leave entitlements and a tax credit for individuals experiencing miscarriage or stillbirth. It is a social-support measure, not a tax cut or deregulation, and applies uniformly across private and federal employees.
What the text implies
- The tax credit is refundable, meaning individuals with no tax liability will receive a payment from the federal government—a direct cash benefit, not merely a reduction in taxes owed.
- Certification requirement (Section 103(g)) allows employers to demand medical documentation of miscarriage, potentially creating privacy concerns and barriers for employees reluctant to disclose pregnancy loss.
- Leave is unpaid under FMLA; the bill does not mandate paid leave, so lower-income workers may still face financial hardship during recovery despite job protection.
- State-issued birth certificate requirement for stillbirth tax credit creates a gatekeeping mechanism dependent on state law variation; some states may not issue such certificates, excluding eligible individuals.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Employees gain a concrete right to unpaid leave during a medically significant and emotionally traumatic event without risking job loss, and individuals experiencing stillbirth receive a direct federal tax credit. Both provisions reduce financial and employment precarity for people facing pregnancy loss.
Who stands to gain
- individuals experiencing miscarriage or stillbirth (tax credit and leave protection)
Named in the bill
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Social Security Administration, U.S. federal civil service employees, State vital records agencies
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 4 Republicans.
- Jul 23, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 23, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (8,831 characters) on Sep 28, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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