NC Midwives under direct attack, please help!

[Drewsmom]

Dear Friends,


It is now time to make our voices heard. Senate Bill 164 if enacted will turn our CPMs into felons and potentially put our community in crisis. Senate Bill 164 turns the unauthorized practice of medicine into a felony and our CPMs have been in violation of the Medical Practice Act since 2007 when maternity care and parturition was established as the practice of medicine. This is hostile to women & midwives and disruptive to the legislative process that we have worked hard to conform to for 2 years now. We need to be sure this bill dies.



This coming Monday I will meet with Sen. Purcell to brief him on HB333 and convey our objections to SB164.



We need all of you to call and e-mail Sen. Forrester and Sen. Purcell during the next 2 days to express your concerns. Please DO NOT direct your frustration at the senators, they may very well not appreciate what this means. Our frustration is with the leadership of the North Carolina Medical Society. Our argument is that they have been obstructionists and have been successful in making North Carolina stand out among its neighbors as denying mothers access to regulated Certified Professional Midwives which is counter to safety. Here are some elements to include in your messages:



1) IMPORTANT – thank them both for their attention to NC Friends of Midwives and the needs of women in NC.

2) North Caro
lina is in the process of enacting legislation to license CPMs. NCFOM has remained in process and has followed the process outlined by the legislature. SB164 is a hostile and disruptive move and the NC Medical Society is out-of-process.

3) How can North Carolina make felons the same midwives who are licensed and regulated in our neighbor states of VA, TN and SC?

4) Do not make our midwives felons!

5) The North Carolina Medical Society is NOT a good faith partner in addressing the problems of North Carolina’s mothers who birth at home.

6) The 2008 House Select Committee on Licensing Midwives produced bil l language instructing the stakeholders, including NCOBGYN and NCACOG societies, to work with the Midwifery Joint Committee to establish Rules/Regulations/ Standards for licensing CPMs in NC. This is a desperate attempt to obstruct the legislator’s call for collaboration.



Please use your own words and it is not necessary to make all of these points. It is important to call (their Office number) and e-mail.

Sen. Forrester
http://www.ncga. state.nc. us/gascripts/ members/viewMemb er.pl?sChamber= Senate&nUserID= 28

Sen. Purcell
http://www.ncga. state.nc. us/gascripts/ members/viewMemb er.pl?sChamber= Senate&nUserID= 51

Let’s make our voices heard!


Russ

[mrsfrenchy]

ugh. this frustrates me so much.
do you think it would make much difference to email if you are not a NC resident?
I live in TN and used to live in NC...and would consider moving back after i finish my degree. Maybe I should include that.

[Emmeline II]

Another angle is that the AMA has a history of seeking to take over the business of its professional competitors and eliminate the option that individuals have to seek non-allopathic care.

Chiropractors vs AMA

Judge Susan Getzendanner found the AMA and others guilty of an illegal conspiracy against the chiropractic profession in September of 1987, ordering a permeate injunction against the AMA and forcing them to print the courts findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Several other of the defendants settled out of court helping to pay for the chiropractors legal expenses and donating to a chiropractic non-profit home for disabled children, Kentuckiana Childrens Center.

This decision was upheld in the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1990 and again by the U.S. Supreme Court that same year.