Are Your Birth Choices Being Represented? - S.C. Midwifery Legislative Survey

Palmetto Association of Licensed Midwives (PALM) is excited to announce that a total of thirty-eight of their supporting Senators and Representatives for the 2021 legislative session will either be keeping their seats or inaugurated into the Statehouse.

Earlier this year, PALM sent out a survey to members of the House and Senate of the South Carolina Statehouse and to candidates running for election. They received Seventy-Four responses before the election with an overwhelmingly high positive-rating. The Survey’s intention was to gauge how dedicated these individuals were to helping the movement fight for the right to have a midwife and birth center in South Carolina. Candidates were considered supportive if they answered positively to every question in the survey:

“Do you support community births in SC for healthy low-risk pregnancies (this would include births that occur at home, birth center or at a physician's office).”
“Do you support equal access to emergency care for families using a midwife?”
“Do you support fair/equal reimbursement rates from Medicaid/private insurance for families using a midwife?”
“Would you be willing to support/sponsor legislative efforts that improve access to midwifery care, emergency care and insurance reimbursement for healthy low-risk pregnancies in SC?”
“Do you believe that collaboration between midwife/physician/providers are a more efficient assessment of health than regulation mandates?”

Following the election, thirty-eight of the positive responses either won or held their seats to represent the people of South Carolina. Among the responses were last year’s Midwifery bill sponsors Representative Jonathon Hill and Senator Richard Cash. PALM was honored to see them maintain their seats as allies in Columbia in the following legislative session. Below are the list of individuals that were willing to pledge their abilities to PALM’s efforts: