Our life in a LillyZoo: Hey New Yorkers help our Midwives do their jobs!

We need your help to pass the Midwifery Modernization Act which will be voted on this week by our NYS senate and legislators.

Please take a moment to look at the forwarded message from Laura Sheperis, President of NY State Association of Licensed Midwives.

In her note she has links to formatted letters that you can print and fax today( or during this week) to your NYS Senator and Legislator.

Hearing from our Consumers will be powerful. Please help us keep Midwifery available to all women who want it in our state.

Thanks so much for your help in this matter.

From your midwives,

Dale, Susan and Julie

Susan and I right after the birth of my second girl. Look I have a smile on my face!

One last big push…
The Midwifery Modernization Act is on the agenda for both the Assembly and Senate Higher Education Committees this week!

On Tuesday, June 8th, the Assembly Higher Education Committee, and on Wednesday, June 9th, the Senate Higher Education Committee will discuss the MMA and likely vote it out of committee. Once this happens, the bill must rest for three days, and then it may be put on the agenda by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate President Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith for a full floor vote. If this happens before the end of this legislative session and the legislature votes yes, then our bill will be signed into law by Governor Paterson!
Time is of the essence…. What you can do:
1. FAX letters to your legislators. To find out who your assemblyperson is, click here. To find out who your senator is, click here. A list of legislators with their fax numbers can be found here. If you do not have access to fax, you may email Kristen Leonard at “kmleonard at mac dot com” with an electronic version of your letter, and she will fax it for you. Faxing is preferred because it is fast, leaves a “paper trail,” and doesn’t bug the staffers who answer the phone like numerous phone calls do.

2. A template for your letter can be found here.

3. Encourage any supportive physician to fax a letter. The Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) has put out opposition to this bill (which we expected they would) and is actively soliciting opposition letters from individual physicians. You can take this template letter and encourage your physician colleagues to sign and fax it to their legislators. A big thank you to Jamie Loehr, MD, family physician in Ithaca and huge supporter of midwives, for the idea and first version of this letter!

4. Ask your clients who support this bill to send faxes. Offer to fax for them if they don’t have access to fax. A template for a succinct client letter can be found here.

5. Fax a copy of any letter that you have sent to your legislator to the offices of Sheldon Silver and Malcolm Smith, also. Their fax numbers are on the list. You can also modify the letter and address it to them - ask them to bring the bill to a floor vote as soon as possible, once it is out of committee.
6. Follow up your faxes / emails / letters with a phone call to the office, or, if possible, an in-person meeting with the legislator or her/his staffer.
This week the bill will be voted out of committee in the Senate and Assembly Higher Education Committees. Our goal is for it to be voted on and passed by the entire Senate and Assembly next week. I know from past and current actions that New Yorkmidwives, clients, friends, physicians, mothers, fathers, and families have a huge impact on what the legislators realize is important in our great state. Let’s end the legislative session with a victory for all of us!
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Visit www.NYSALM.org for more information.
Laura Sheperis, CM, MS
Midwife
NYSALM President