The Missouri Supreme Court handed down a victory for Missouri Certified Professional Midwives. A lower court had ruled against a law slipped into a bill on insurance last year. The law simply stated, "376.1753. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any person who holds current ministerial or tocological certification by an organization accredited by the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) may provide services as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1396 r-6(b)(4)(E)(ii)(I)."

Don't feel bad if you don't know what tocology is. Neither did the lawmakers who voted for it or the governor who signed it. It's an old synonym for the practice of midwifery or obstetrics. After the bill was passed, other lawmakers were infuriated to realize they'd just passed a bill allowing homebirth midwives FULL, unfettered practice in their state. Previously, non-CNMs were prohibited by Missouri law from practicing - they could get up to 7 years in prison for it.

Well, the doctor associations were unhappy with this law (to put it mildly) and took it to court. The lower court upheld it. The midwives, scrapping together every little nickel and penny they could, appealed it to the Missouri Supreme Court. (They are still in need to funds to pay their $30,000 bill.)

The reason given for the ruling in favor of the law was that the doctor associations didn't have a 'standing' from which to argue against the law: they weren't directly harmed by it. The doctor associations can appeal this ruling and have 10 days to do so. Appeals aren't common to the supreme court and the ruling was 5-2, so if there is no appeal, CPMs will be legal in Missouri on July 4! Talk about a happy Independence Day!

If you'd like to find out more about this, you can go to Friends of Missouri Midwives.

Debby S Blessed Babies and Families

Tags: Missouri Midwives Tocology Certified-Profe Ssional-Midwive S

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