Our bill officially has a number! HSB 229. Read it here.
CORRECTION:
Representative Mascher is our sponsor. AT THIS TIME WE HAVE NO OTHER SPONSORS. We are still working on getting a bill introduced in the senate.
We have our first subcommittee meeting scheduled at the capitol at 4:00 on Monday.
Our lobbying day at the capitol was an amazing success. Not only did we secure support from many legislators across the state, we:
- made contact with the Dept of Health, who will house our licensing board, to learn how we can work with them
- made contact with several supportive lobbyists in the areas of maternal and child health
- found out that the Iowa Hospital Association will NOT be blocking our bill (yay!)
- found out (unsurprisingly) that the Iowa Medical Associate will actively fight our bill (boo!)
As a first-timer to the capitol I was intimidated, but it was actually pretty easy. Legislators are eager to hear from constituents and want to learn more about our cause. The face-to-face time made a huge impact and gave all attendees a huge boost!
The #1 thing I learned is this: our legislators know NOTHING about midwifery. We are educating from the ground up. And even more significantly, the medical lobby has NOT YET started spreading misinformation against us. This is the ONLY TIME we will EVER have total control of our message. We MUST take advantage of this. WE NEED A FLOOD OF LETTERS TO THE CAPITOL to follow up this great event. ASK THEM TO SUPPORT HSB 229!!
Handwritten is best, snail mail is best!
Be sure to mention HSB 229.
You can always refer them to the FOIM website for more information.
We are planning another rally day in March (an all-hands, bring your kids type thing). We will get a date to you ASAP.
Questions or concerns? Email me! laurendoula@yahoo.com
Lauren
No comments:
Post a Comment