RES 630 Draft 01 2022-2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 5 1 licensed midwives do not reside in Hawai'i at all. Equitable balancing and assurance of access 2 to licensure for Hawai'i residents is important. 3 6. Justice. Since licensure began in 2019, new scholarly data clarified that people of 4 color experience systemic injustice at disproportionate rates. Meaningful choices about where, 5 how, and with whom to birth are constrained when those who are needed to help enact those 6 choices face legal penalties for doing so, and the birthing person could also be implicated. Fear 7 of systemic discrimination has resulted in some birthing people in Hawaii choosing to give 8 birth with no assistance, rather than risk potential systemic repercussions from use of an 9 unlicensed provider. It is therefore urgent that systemic barriers to birth support be removed, to 1.0 ensure both safety and increased systemic justice. 11 7. Diversity. The White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis 12 (June, 2022) is clear that "The lack of diversity in clinical providers and non -clinical workers is 13 troubling, especially given studies that show how beneficial care from diverse providers can be, 14 especially for women of color." A diversity of practices are needed in order to address the 15 current maternal health crisis in Hawaii and meet the needs of Hawai`i`s multicultural and 16 rural communities. Since licensure began in 2019, it has become clear that there is a very broad 1.7 spectrum of cultural, religious, and historically traditional birth practices in Hawaii, outside of 18 licensed clinical midwife practice. Diversification of legally available options is urgently 19 needed to protect cultural practices, ensure reproductive autonomy, increase access to care, and 20 improve health outcomes and mortality rates. 21 The Hawaii Regulatory Licensing Reform Act, HRS Chapter 26H requires the State to 22 regulate professions only "when the health, safety, or welfare of the consumer may be 23 jeopardized by the nature of the service" based upon "evidence of abuses by providers of the 5