The Legislature hereby finds and declares that birth defects, stillbirths, and miscarriages represent problems of public health importance about which too little is known; that these conditions lead to severe mental anguish on the part of parents and relatives and frequently to high medical care costs; and that a system to obtain more information about these conditions could result in development of preventive measures to decrease their incidence in the future. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to accomplish all of the following:

(a)  To maintain an ongoing program of birth defects monitoring statewide. “Birth defect” as used in this chapter means any medical problem of organ structure, function, or chemistry of possible genetic or prenatal origin.

(b)  To provide information on the incidence, prevalence, and trends of birth defects, stillbirths, and miscarriages.

(c)  To provide information to determine whether environmental hazards are associated with birth defects, stillbirths, and miscarriages.

(d)  To provide information as to other possible causes of birth defects, stillbirths, and miscarriages.

(e)  To develop prevention strategies for reducing the incidence of birth defects, stillbirths, and miscarriages.

(f)  To conduct interview studies about the causes of birth defects.

(g)  To affirm the authority of the state department to contract with a qualified entity to operate the birth defects monitoring program statewide.

(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1996.)