Doctors are needed for abortions, but not for live births:
This Article may be cited as the "Home Birth Freedom Act."
The General Assembly makes the following findings:
(1) There is a need for a person to have the freedom to choose the manner, cost, and setting for giving birth. (2) Access to prenatal care and delivery services is limited by the inadequate number of providers of midwifery services, and the practice of midwifery may help to reduce this shortage. (3) There is a need for the safe and effective delivery of newborn babies and the health, safety, and welfare of their mothers in the delivery process. (4) In the interest of public health, the State should promote the regulation of the practice of midwifery for the purpose of protecting the health and welfare of women and infants. (5) Midwifery is a profession in its own right, and it is not the practice of medicine.
This diary is not intended to disparage those who believe in and/or practice home delivery via midwifery. But it demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that Republican claims of concern for women's health are merely a cloak to hide their true intent. And I'm surprised nobody has brought this up in debate yet. A lot more women die in childbirth than in pregnancy terminations, but Republicans are just fine with leaving the doctors out of that process: