Current legislation regarding HRS 457J

Current legislation regarding HRS 457J:

2024

In the 2024 legislative session, which opened on January 17, 2024, a companion bill HB2649/ SB2969 was introduced. The 2024 legislative session ended on May 3, 2024 without the passage of either of these bills. MAH’s interpretation of HB2649/ SB2969 is that it unnecessarily named additional birth professionals, such as doulas and lactation consultants in the midwifery licensure law, and it added additional exemptions, which would allow for anyone to practice midwifery without a license. MAH provides the following education: There are many people who attend birth, not everyone who attends birth is a midwife. The intended purpose of HRS 457J is to regulate the profession of midwifery. It is not intended to regulate or define all people who attend birth. The purpose of a licensure law is to regulate a specific profession, not additional professions; and allowing anyone but a licensed midwife (or APRN who is a certified nurse-midwife) to practice midwifery is not in line with the purpose of regulating a profession, which is to provide protections to the public. 

MAH recognizes that there was enormous effort by many to regulate midwifery, and that there was voluminous opposition to the licensure of midwives due to a misperception that it took away the community’s right to choose where and with whom they birth. The amount of misinformation that circulated and continues to be promoted means there is a lot of energy spent dispelling myths. This erodes the ability for legislators to absorb and digest accurate information in order to produce clean language for the midwifery licensing law. MAH continues to provide education to legislators and community stakeholders, and MAH believes that if the majority of energy was focused on ensuring clear language was developed, the midwifery licensure law would only regulate midwives, as it is intended to do. MAH is optimistic HRS 457J can be amended by legislators to more clearly define midwifery.