More on Midwives
State Sen. Loudon’s bill to get rid of some restrictions on midwives is being stopped by a filibuster:
A bill sponsored by Sen. John Loudon, R-Chesterfield, would allow anybody to perform home births as long as they’re accredited through the North American Registry of Midwives, a private agency out of Georgia.
But after a filibuster by Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, and Sen. Yvonne Wilson, D-Kansas City, neared a fourth hour, Loudon withdrew the bill from debate.
The current requirements placed on midwives keep people out of the business, which allows the remaining midwives to charge more for their services.
It’s funny that another kind of occupational licensure has helped make midwives so popular. Milton Friedman explains in Capitalism and Freedom that licensing medical doctors drives up the cost of traditional health care. That encourages people to turn to midwives, chiropractors, alternative healers, and others who don’t have traditional medical licenses.
If people think hiring a midwife is too risky, the best course of action is not to impose lots of licensing requirements on midwives. Instead, we should try to lighten the regulations on traditional doctors so they’ll be a more affordable option for patients.
