Supporting and Opposing Items on the ACNM's Agenda

ACNM Initiatives:

In conjunction with their 50th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC (June 10-16, 2005), the American College of Nurse-Midwives is lobbying congress to support the 'Improving Access to Nurse-Midwifery Care Act,' (HR 872 and S 911), legislation that would 'wipe out a reimbursement inequity that denies access to midwifery providers for women with disabilities,' and we urge citizens to contact their federal legislators to support those bills.

However, we urge you NOT to go along with their endorsement of knee-jerk/anti-consumer tort reform legislation. A better plan to contain or reduce malpractice liability premiums would include stricter oversight and regulation of premium increases by insurance companies, clearer codification of patients' federal rights to informed consent and refusal and stronger enforcement of existing 'unprofessional conduct' statutes at the state level.

We also support the ACNM's call for congressional review of the rapidly increasing cesarean rate, although we wish that that it would be expanded to investigate the risks and benefits of ALL medical interventions (i.e., interferences) that are increasingly common during childbirth. Furthermore, we urge the ACNM to undertake more strident efforts in the future to network with other professional and grassroots organizations re: this and every other item on their legislative agenda.