Action Alert!

ACTION ALERT

Reproductive Health and Education Coalition of Alabama
April 9, 2007

Dear RHECA Action Network members:

The four bills we wrote about in our last two alerts which ban or restrict access to safe and legal abortion are still pending before committees in the Alabama Legislature, along with one pro-active proposal that will enhance women’s reproductive health options. A public hearing was held before the Medical Procedures Sub-Committee on House Bill 199, the positive measure, last Wednesday. This Wednesday, April 11, at 9 a.m. there will be another public hearing on House Bill 199 in Room 807. Recommendations for action we are asking you to take are below. Although all five bills are important, House Bill 199 needs our urgent attention at this time.

Olivia Turner
(On behalf of RHECA’s Legislative Committee)
334-265-2754 x 204
otaclual@bellsouth.net

Information and Recommendations about Pending Legislation
(Contact information for the Alabama Legislature and bill sponsors is below.)

HB199

Sponsors: Hall

Status: Pending committee action in the House Health Committee

Content of bill: Provides for the development of a Certified Professional Midwife License. Includes provisions for state regulation, penalties for violations, information for consumers, etc.

Action recommended in order of effectiveness:

Attend and offer testimony at the public hearing on April 11 at 9 a.m. in Room 807.
Personal letter to the House Health Committee, Medical Procedures Sub-Committee chair and vice chair and your legislator asking him/her to support it. Letters can be mailed or faxed.
Phone call to chair/vice chair and your legislator.
E-mail to same.

Talking points:

Alabama's midwifery law has not been updated in over 30 years old. It is too restrictive.
Alabama families deserve more choices.
Recent studies show that home birth is as safe or safer for healthy women with normal pregnancies as hospital deliveries
More families are considering home birth a desirable way to bring their babies into the world.
AL should join the 22 other states that credential and regulate the practice of certified professional midwives. This bill will accomplish that.

Contact information

To find out who your Legislative representatives are and how to contact them, click http://www.legislature.state.al.us./misc/zipsearch.html.
To read the bills or track their status yourself, click http://alisdb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/ACASLogin.asp .
Contact info for the House Health Committee, Medical Procedures Sub-Committee: (All info below is listed as appropriate contacts regarding legislative business.)

Chair, Locy Baker
Room 522-D 115 Bryant Street
11 S. Union Street Abbeville, AL. 3613-
Montgomery, AL. 36130 (334) 727-1144 ( c)
(334) 242-7693 (334) 588-0251 (f)

Vice Chair, Jim Barton
Room 540D 3824 St. Andrews Dr.
11 S. Union Street Mobile, AL. 36693
Montgomery, AL. 36130 (251) 208-5480
(334) 242-7754 jbarton@msg_inc.com

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