SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) - After two hours of debate this morning, the South Dakota Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill that would license certified professional midwives.
Debbie Pease with South Dakota Birth Matters says after a similar bill was defeated last year, the Board of Nursing and Department of Health approached her in an effort to fine tune a measure for this legislative session.
Pease says the effort this year would put a South Dakota midwife under the guise of the Department of Health. She says all of the suggestions for the bill were largely accepted except for a specific definition of a low risk birth.
She says there were 13 conditions listed that would keep a pregnant woman out of a low risk birth. Pease says it is important to spell out what is high or low risk. She says it's clear in the bill that a board will eventually establish those rules.
A proposed amendment that would have defined risks and provided midwives with liability insurance was voted down in the committee.
Dean Krogman with the South Dakota State Medical Association encouraged legislators to vote against the bill saying birthing is possibly the highest risk in medical practice. He says doctors are getting out of birthing because of the risk.
Krogman says a life is not worth the freedom to chose. He told legislators if they are pro-life that they ought to consider opposing this bill.
The measure has passed the Senate and goes to the House floor.