Childbirth Freedom Act to decriminalize midwives, pave way for home births
Alabama lawmakers will consider a pair of bills that would allow midwives to work in the state and would pave the way for births outside of a hospital. One bill, HB 316 by Republican Rep. Ken Johnson, would establish a seven-member state board to oversee and regulate midwives and also allow them to practice independently. Current law doesn’t allow midwives to legally deliver babies in most circumstances, and home births are only legal in the state if a midwife is not present. While Johnson’s bill, the “Childbirth Freedom Act,” would allow midwifery in the state for those with the Certified Professional Midwife accreditation, the proposal would carve out more complicated births, such as breach births or twins, to be performed by other medical professionals. Johnson has also filed a separate bill, HB 315, that would decriminalize midwifery for certified individuals, though practicing without the proper credentials would be a misdemeanor. Midwifery is legal and regulated in 31 states, including neighboring states Florida and Tennessee, and Alabama is one of a dozen states with a currently active bill legalizing the profession. Births overseen by a midwife are typically less expensive than in-hospital births The Alabama bills are championed by Alabama Birth Coalition, and are part of a broader campaign, “The Big Push for Midwives,” spearheaded by members of the trade. Proponents pushed for a similar bill in 2016, though that bill didn’t contain the same provisions on more complicated births. Alabama issued licenses to midwives before 1975, and allowed midwives to have independent practices so long as they held a valid permit from the Department of Health, though over the next few years the state stopped renewing licenses and informed midwives they would have to shut their doors.
Mimi Graham: If babies could vote in this 2016 election
If babies could vote in this tough election, they’d want more than a kiss on the cheek. If they could talk, imagine what they would say about the issues that matter to them — to win their support. These newest little humans would want parents who are ready to be devoted to their care — so they’d support leaders who value family planning. Unplanned parenthood means too many babies are born to parents who are too young, unstable, or too poor to take care of them. Since 62 percent of Florida births are paid by Medicaid, it’s clear that parents cannot even afford to pay for delivery. These babies often start out way behind when it comes to what they need to succeed. For parents who struggle with addictions, babies would support leaders who recognize it as a public health crisis and offer therapeutic options for recovery, rather than locking up their moms and dads. To win the baby vote, candidates need to support more than a modest minimum wage hike — because many moms and dads have to work two jobs to make ends meet and still face agonizing decisions about whether to pay the light bill or buy groceries and diapers. Baby voters would want their candidates to support affordable health care for everyone — so parents don’t stress out over hard-to-pay medical bills. Babies’ little brains are doing big work, especially in the first 1000 days of life when they are hard-wiring the foundation for all future learning. They would elect officials who understand that “bright futures” begin in the high chair, not on college campuses. They’d support scholarships for high-quality early learning programs that teach their parents to sing, read, and talk to them at the time when their brains are most receptive to learning. They’d know that programs that encourage fair play and getting along with others are equally important to teaching ABCs. Babies would want political candidates who will wisely invest in early learning programs so that every child gets the jump-start they need to succeed. Babies would want their political leaders to ensure children everywhere experience the joy and innocence of childhood, without hunger; that every child gets a bedtime story and is kissed goodnight; that children don’t have to shoulder adult responsibilities or be exposed to an X-rated world. If babies could vote, they’d support candidates who had common sense gun regulations so that their innocent curiosity doesn’t lead to more gun tragedies that continue to kill at least one child every other day. If babies could vote, they would choose leaders who take climate change seriously – or the planet they inherit may be largely uninhabitable. Babies would want leaders who guide their path to adulthood in a society that allows them to share in the nation’s promise of opportunity and the pursuit of happiness. They would want to vote for leaders who leave them a world where every child gets enough love to build a lifelong foundation of security so that they, too, can become nurturing, productive grownups who contribute to our nation’s economic growth. If babies could vote, they’d tell our leaders to “use their words” to find common sense solutions to any and all of our truly big problems. The babies would support construction of a HUGE bipartisan sandbox where there is plenty of room for everyone to play nicely together. We all know, of course, that babies can’t vote in this election. But that truly makes each of our votes even more important – to embrace candidates/leaders who will be dedicated to improving the kind of communities, country and world that we are responsible for preserving, improving and protecting as their stewards. Perhaps the best way to keep the babies in mind during this divisive election season is to remember the oft-quoted wisdom of Native Americans: “Treat the earth (and our country) well. It was not given to us by our parents. It was loaned to us by our children.” ___ Dr. Mimi Graham, Director of the Florida State University Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy, may be reached at mgraham@fsu.edu.
Babies or Bureaucrats? An open letter to the Alabama Congressional Delegation
In my lifetime I have watched America go to extraordinary lengths to fight global injustice: homicide, genocide, infanticide and terrorism. The images of that injustice are horrific. The lengths to which men’s minds will take them to inflict anguish on the helpless makes our skin crawl. Often, in response to such evil, we send our brave men and women to topple dictators, snatch up murderers and keep the undefended safe in nations where life is considered cheap. To your credit, many of you have cast votes to stop murder around the globe, but when America’s defenseless need you most, you sit indifferently in the most powerful seats in the world and do NOTHING! YouTube is flooded with pithy video clips and sound bites of some of you telling your constituents how outraged you are at the horrific images of helpless babies being dissected for cash as if separating paper from plastic at a recycling center. In my ears I hear a resounding cadence for “Planned Parenthood must be defunded!” Yet, we see no action. King Solomon said, “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.” (Pr 25:14 ESV) How many more videos must you see? Please watch this one. WARNING: it graphically makes the point in 60 seconds. How many more unborn babies have to die a ghastly death… 1 million, 10 million, 56 million more before you take action to end the genocide, not in the Balkans, Asia or Africa, but in the tax-payer funded cold, sterile slaughterhouses called Planned Parenthood? You say you can’t defund Planned Parenthood because you fear a government shutdown. This makes no sense! We have seen shutdowns before and they don’t cause federal employees to lose their jobs, instead they are furloughed until the impasse is resolved, but later, refunded for lost time and sent back to work. Sure, it was painful for some, but did not cause permanent difficulty. Unfortunately, the unborn don’t get a furlough, instead they have a permanent “solution” violently forced upon them as they are dissected alive, parceled out and sold for profit. Will any of you coherently argue that saving government bureaucrats from temporary layoffs should come before rescuing live babies? As a mother and Alabama citizen who deeply cares about life, I implore all Congressional members from Alabama to take a stand for life, for justice and for sanity. After all, when we eventually meet our Maker, He will not ask you how many jobs you created or how many workers you kept from being temporarily laid off, He will judge you for what you did to the “least of these.” Becky Gerritson, President, Wetumpka TEA Party (AL) & National Outreach Coordinator for Grassroots for Victory USA.
