Court ruling offers temporary victory for Alabama birth centers
Stephanie Mitchell, a certified professional midwife, speaks at a news conference, Aug. 8, 2023, in Montgomery, Ala. On Saturday, Sept. 30, a judge ruled that Alabama cannot shut down freestanding birth centers that meet certain standards, siding with midwives and doctors who challenged what they described as Alabama’s de facto ban on the facilities.
Alabama birthing advocates are celebrating a recent court decision in support of birth centers.
In a preliminary injunction issued Saturday, Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Greg Griffin ordered the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) to license birth centers that meet certain national standards, rather than abiding by more stringent state guidelines.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that the court stepped in,” said Whitney Leigh White, attorney with the American Civil LIberties Union (ACLU).
White represents a group of midwives and doctors in Alabama trying to open birth centers, which are health care facilities where pregnant people can receive care and deliver outside of a hospital under the supervision of midwives, as well as nurses and obstetricians.
Alabama’s health department approved rules in August to license the facilities, which received widespread pushback from birthing advocates, including state and national midwifery groups. They said the regulations are unnecessarily strict, do not follow national guidelines and make it nearly impossible to open a birth center in Alabama.
Saturday’s ruling requires state health officials to license facilities that comply with standards established by the American Association of Birth Centers while the lawsuit continues.
Plaintiffs in the case argue ADPH doesn’t have the authority to regulate birth centers at all, because the facilities are not hospitals.
“The primary argument in the case is that the department is really overstepping its boundaries here and trying to seize an authority that it has not been given under Alabama law,” White said.
State health officials disagree, stating in court filings that the obstetrical care provided at birth centers requires them to be licensed as hospitals. In an email, a department spokesperson said ADPH does not comment on pending litigation and declined an interview request for this story.
At least three birth centers are in the works across Alabama, including Oasis Family Birthing Center in Birmingham. Obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Heather Skanes opened the facility in September 2022 and completed 14 deliveries before closing in June due to the new ADPH licensing restrictions.
“Having to turn patients away has been devastating,” Skanes wrote in a court filing. “For many patients, choosing a birth center means exercising autonomy over their birth experiences when they may lack — or have been denied — the ability to do so in other parts of their lives or in other decisions affecting their health or their bodies. To have to tell patients that they were again being denied the ability to make this autonomous decision about their birthing experience because of ADPH’s actions was heartbreaking.”
ACLU officials said Skanes is working to obtain a license from ADPH and re-open in light of the injunction.
How Apple turbocharged China’s development
A new book raises the specter that corporate offshoring of manufacturing may have undermined America's lead in technological innovation and even its national security.
Russia pummels Kyiv with drones and missiles, killing at least 15
The attacks was one of the largest on Ukraine's capital in months. It came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared for the G7 summit in Canada, where he is pushing for stronger sanctions on Russia.
Medicaid keeps getting more popular as Republicans aim to cut it by $800 billion
Americans across the political spectrum like Medicaid and think it should get more funding, not less, according to a new poll from health research organization KFF.
The essential listening guide to Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Tracks II: The Lost Albums’
It's a great day when your favorite artist releases a new record. But what if they released seven new records at once, full of music you didn't even know existed? That's what Bruce Springsteen is doing on his forthcoming box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums.
Timbaland’s AI music project is a ghost in a misguided machine
The super-producer whose beats moved the boundaries of Top 40 radio is chasing a new revolution: digital superstars and the erasure of artistic process as we know it.
Virginia’s governor’s race could be a barometer for how voters feel about Trump
On Tuesday, Virginia hold its primary election. The contest is a barometer for how Virginians, and maybe the country, feel about the Trump administration ahead of the 2026 midterms.
