Is this weekend in Costa Mesa and I’ll be there selling books and tees (new tees!) I’m not speaking at it, how can I compete with Dr SEARS!? and DR. Fleiss? and Dr. Jay Gordon? How’s THAT for a line-up? all you mamas who wonder where all the groovy Pediatricians are. They’re here! But anyway, If you have the chance you should come by my booth and say hi! conference info

Love,
Heather

Order this Cartoon as a 8.5 x 11 print on glossy photo paper and signed for only $10!

Dear Mama,
Here are just a few of the midwives that have been prosecuted in the past year or so…two of the cases are happening right now

Marcia in California!
melanie in Iowa!
Roberta in Vermont!
Mary in Indiana!

and if you want to join the movement Citizens for Midwiferyis a good place to start…it’s so important that we fight for the right to birth how you want, with whom you want and where you want, our daughters need us!

Love,
Heather

Ps. this just in from a Hathor reader:

I just wanted to point out, in response to the cartoon, that home birth is legal in all fifty states. There are no federal or state statutes or regulations that prohibit the choice of birth setting or that outlaw homebirth itself.

There are, as the cartoon highlights, laws in 26 states and DC that prohibit midwifery practice, so while women can choose to have a home birth in all 50 states, they don’t have the option of hiring a legal midwife in most of them (though we’ll be down to 25 if the MO governor signs their legislation). It’s a subtle distinction, but an important one because the persistent myth that home birth itself is illegal in some states discourages some women from pursuing it.

Katie Prown
Legislative Chair
Wisconsin Guild of Midwives

Order this Cartoon as a 8.5 x 11 print on glossy photo paper and signed for only $10!

This came to me last week from Lynn C. (thanks!):

Sen John Loudon proposed a bill to legalize and
license CPMs, but Sen Chuck Graham filibustered it, at least two years
running. So last week, almost at the end of session, John quietly added
an amendment to a big insurance bill he was handling. Never lied about
it; never had the opportunity to lie, because nobody bothered to read the
amendments before they cheerfully voted it through. Now the opponents are
all hacked off because they embarrassed themselves, and they are calling
Loudon a liar and stripped him of his committee chair position.

Senate in Shock, Midwifery Passed

Louden Lies to Senate

Louden tossed out of committee

Currently, opponents are trying to attach the massive insurance bill to
other legislation as an amendment itself, without the midwifery part.

We are tying up the phone trying to get a recording and transcript of the floor debate in which
Loudon is accused of lying–he asserted that the amendment in question was
just a technical matter, but no one seemed to notice that he had been
asked about somebody else’s amendment, not his own, which no one ever
bothered to ask about. Oops.

At this very moment, the Senate is debating whether they should just blow
off the filibuster guy and take a vote on the midwifery bill itself to get
past the whole amendment issue

She later sent me this update:

Just after I wrote to you, the Senate voted to openly add the full text of SB303 (the original midwifery bill) as an amendment to HB914. It was largely symbolic, as we do not expect HB914 to actually get voted on before the session ends tomorrow night, but it did pass 21-13. Funny thing, the speaker said the nays had it, but the head count was quite different.

We are still trying to keep language negating SB818 (or is it HB?) from being amended to other bills, and calling the governor to go ahead and sign it. That’s the one with the very short midwifery addition in the actual text of the bill. Apparently he can let a bill sit for months before signing it.

The issue has hit the news all over the state, which is more awareness than we’ve ever had. Often, when it comes up with people we run into, they are shocked that midwifery could be illegal. Hard to get help when nobody knows there’s a problem So now at least they know.

And finally, Lynn forwarded this letter to me:

Dear friends of midwifery,
 
The 2007 legislative session has ended, leaving our midwifery language intact on HB818!
 
I cannot tell you how excited the Missouri homebirth families and midwives are!!!!!!! We have been crying, and hugging, and smiling, and sobbing, and throwing felon cards up in the air in the House and Senate chambers and hugging the senators, making phone calls, and then starting all over again. It’s hard to believe it is real…
 
After session ended, we went into Governor Blunt’s office for an end of session press conference where the Governor spoke about what the legislature had accomplished this year. Governor Blunt said that he “fully intends” to sign HB818.
 
Assuming all goes well, and Governor Blunt signs the legislation, the law should take effect August 28th, leaving Certified Professional Midwives free to practice in Missouri.
 
If you have not yet written to Governor Blunt, please do so as soon as possible. Tell him why this is important to you and your family.
 

Thank you so much Lynn for updating us on the painful process, I know I’m not alone in feeling relieved…

Love,
Heather