BIG MEDICINE IS TRYING TO KILL THE HOME BIRTH SAFETY ACT!!
We will be calling the bill for a vote tomorrow,
Wednesday, November 17th. We need everyone to be in the capitol. Please try to get there around 9:00 am or 9:30 so you can visit your rep before the 11:00 am House Session. If you can't come to Springfield, please call your rep and ask them to vote YES no matter what you think their vote currently is. We need to FLOOD the capitol with calls between 9am and 11am.
thank you!!! LET'S MAKE HISTORY TOMORROW!!!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
SPRINGFIELD WEDNESDAY!!
It is VERY likely that our bill will be called on Wednesday - BE THERE to see history made!
When: Wednesday, November 17th
Where: Springfield - the Capitol Building
Where to find us: On the main floor in the north hall, we will have a table set up. You can also text or call Rachel on her cell phone at: 630-750-9444. (texting preferred)
What to bring: Three plates of cookies and three notes for your Representative, your Senator and the Governor. However, if you can not bring them, please come anyway!!! Baggies of M&M's are just fine too. Do not let not having cookies or M&M's keep you from coming though - we want everyone there! However for those who have the time and ability, please consider bringing extra cookies because there are a LOT of unknown reps and we will be sending willing individuals around to make sure all Reps get cookies and hear our message.
Bring lots of quarters for parking. Some meters are only good for a few hours. Some several blocks away last longer.
Bring business cards or index cards with your name so that you can leave them with secretaries or use them to call your Rep. out of the session.
Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and if you have a Got Midwife or Home Birth T-shirt or Button, please wear it. We will also be selling Got Midwife T-shirts for $10 each.
Please note: Amtrak trains are filling up - reserve now, however be aware the Bloomington to Springfield leg of the trip is by bus.
If we can help you in anyway, send us an email ahead of time and we'll get back to you asap. Email Jamie at Charis490@gmail.com
Thank you for all you do and keep up the hard work!
Rachel, Toney, Vicki, Michelle, Jamie, Jennifer, Hilary, Audrey
The Coalition Board
PS - if you can't come Wednesday, we'll be there Tuesday and maybe Thursday too. If you wish to either of these days, please call Rachel at the number above.
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
When: Wednesday, November 17th
Where: Springfield - the Capitol Building
Where to find us: On the main floor in the north hall, we will have a table set up. You can also text or call Rachel on her cell phone at: 630-750-9444. (texting preferred)
What to bring: Three plates of cookies and three notes for your Representative, your Senator and the Governor. However, if you can not bring them, please come anyway!!! Baggies of M&M's are just fine too. Do not let not having cookies or M&M's keep you from coming though - we want everyone there! However for those who have the time and ability, please consider bringing extra cookies because there are a LOT of unknown reps and we will be sending willing individuals around to make sure all Reps get cookies and hear our message.
Bring lots of quarters for parking. Some meters are only good for a few hours. Some several blocks away last longer.
Bring business cards or index cards with your name so that you can leave them with secretaries or use them to call your Rep. out of the session.
Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and if you have a Got Midwife or Home Birth T-shirt or Button, please wear it. We will also be selling Got Midwife T-shirts for $10 each.
Please note: Amtrak trains are filling up - reserve now, however be aware the Bloomington to Springfield leg of the trip is by bus.
If we can help you in anyway, send us an email ahead of time and we'll get back to you asap. Email Jamie at Charis490@gmail.com
Thank you for all you do and keep up the hard work!
Rachel, Toney, Vicki, Michelle, Jamie, Jennifer, Hilary, Audrey
The Coalition Board
PS - if you can't come Wednesday, we'll be there Tuesday and maybe Thursday too. If you wish to either of these days, please call Rachel at the number above.
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
DOWNSTATE / UPSTATE CHALLENGE!!
DOWNSTATE / UPSTATE CHALLENGE!!
Want to support your favorite midwife but don't want to drive to Chicago for a wine tasting?
We have just the thing for you!
DONATE TO CFIM NOW AND YOUR DONATION WILL BE DOUBLED
Yes, doubled - and you'll have the chance to show everyone who rules - Illinois upstaters (Chicago) or Illinois downstaters (everyone else).
On November 20th, Chicago area midwifery supporters will attend an Elegant Evening of wine tasting, appetizers and desserts hosted by the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives. There will be a silent auction as well. The evening will be hosted by the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives and proceeds will go toward lobbying expenses for SB3712 - the Home Birth Safety Act. The last time this group did fundraising they brought in several thousand dollars.
Knowing that downstate supporters cannot easily attend the event, an anonymous donor has offered a challenge grant. If downstate supporters can collectively raise $500, the donor will match it. This will be just the beginning because rumor has it we will have another matching donor later this month! The last time the Coalition had a matching donor drive like this several thousand dollars were brought in!
With thousands coming in from each group last time, this looks like an excellent opportunity for a little bit of friendly intrastate competition! We are inviting downstate Illinoisans to try to beat the Chicago women in their fundraising game. Between now and November 20th, all donations to the Coalition from anywhere outside Chicago proper will be tallied as downstate donations.
After the November 20th Chicago event is over and the proceeds are tallied, we will see which group Chicago or Downstate will be featured as the RULING FUNDRAISING GROUP on the Coalition website.
So join us please - a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. And it could help home birth mothers, babies and midwives have safer and healthier home births in Illinois. Any sized donation, big or small, counts. Remember, whatever you give will be doubled.
Let the race begin! You can donate by paypal at www.illinoismidwifery.org or you can mail a check to CFIM c/o Vicki Johnson, 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111.
If you are mailing a donation, in order to be sure you'll be counted in the challenge, you must postmark your donation by by November 19th. If you mail it after that date, please send Vicki an email letting her know what's coming in the mail. Vicki is at Babylady55@aol.com
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!! As extra incentive, donors who give $100 or more will not only see their donation matched, they will also receive a free copy of the Ten Year Anniversary Edition of the Illinois Midwives Calendar produced by the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives. This beautiful Black and White calendar juxtaposes photographs showing the beauty of homebirth with words describing the hard realities of being a home birth attendant in Illinois. Calendars are in production and will be released in December, though an advance batch will be sold at the wine tasting. Additional calendars may be purchased for $20 each plus $2 postage. All proceeds from sales will go to ICCPM for expenses related to the Home Birth Safety Act. Calendar Purchase requests for other than $100 donors (who will automatically receive them) should be directed to ICCPM CALENDAR c/o Vicki Johnson, 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111.
Want to support your favorite midwife but don't want to drive to Chicago for a wine tasting?
We have just the thing for you!
DONATE TO CFIM NOW AND YOUR DONATION WILL BE DOUBLED
Yes, doubled - and you'll have the chance to show everyone who rules - Illinois upstaters (Chicago) or Illinois downstaters (everyone else).
On November 20th, Chicago area midwifery supporters will attend an Elegant Evening of wine tasting, appetizers and desserts hosted by the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives. There will be a silent auction as well. The evening will be hosted by the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives and proceeds will go toward lobbying expenses for SB3712 - the Home Birth Safety Act. The last time this group did fundraising they brought in several thousand dollars.
Knowing that downstate supporters cannot easily attend the event, an anonymous donor has offered a challenge grant. If downstate supporters can collectively raise $500, the donor will match it. This will be just the beginning because rumor has it we will have another matching donor later this month! The last time the Coalition had a matching donor drive like this several thousand dollars were brought in!
With thousands coming in from each group last time, this looks like an excellent opportunity for a little bit of friendly intrastate competition! We are inviting downstate Illinoisans to try to beat the Chicago women in their fundraising game. Between now and November 20th, all donations to the Coalition from anywhere outside Chicago proper will be tallied as downstate donations.
After the November 20th Chicago event is over and the proceeds are tallied, we will see which group Chicago or Downstate will be featured as the RULING FUNDRAISING GROUP on the Coalition website.
So join us please - a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. And it could help home birth mothers, babies and midwives have safer and healthier home births in Illinois. Any sized donation, big or small, counts. Remember, whatever you give will be doubled.
Let the race begin! You can donate by paypal at www.illinoismidwifery.org or you can mail a check to CFIM c/o Vicki Johnson, 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111.
If you are mailing a donation, in order to be sure you'll be counted in the challenge, you must postmark your donation by by November 19th. If you mail it after that date, please send Vicki an email letting her know what's coming in the mail. Vicki is at Babylady55@aol.com
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!! As extra incentive, donors who give $100 or more will not only see their donation matched, they will also receive a free copy of the Ten Year Anniversary Edition of the Illinois Midwives Calendar produced by the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives. This beautiful Black and White calendar juxtaposes photographs showing the beauty of homebirth with words describing the hard realities of being a home birth attendant in Illinois. Calendars are in production and will be released in December, though an advance batch will be sold at the wine tasting. Additional calendars may be purchased for $20 each plus $2 postage. All proceeds from sales will go to ICCPM for expenses related to the Home Birth Safety Act. Calendar Purchase requests for other than $100 donors (who will automatically receive them) should be directed to ICCPM CALENDAR c/o Vicki Johnson, 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
ONLY FOUR WEEKS LEFT!!
Dear Midwifery and Home Birth Supporters,
We are moving into the home stretch. We have only four weeks left to gain enough votes to call SB 3712 for a House floor vote in the November veto session. We’ve gained a few yes votes. We’ve even gained a new co-sponsor, Eddie Lee Jackson, Jr. from East St. Louis. But we need more declared yes votes before we can call the bill for a vote on the House floor.
NOW is the time to call your legislator and ask for a clear yes or no vote on this bill. If you run into any road block (calls not returned, legislative aides telling you the bill is dead, legislators giving neither a yes nor a no vote) please mark your calendar for November 4th or 5th so you can try calling again at that time. We anticipate that after the election, those who won will feel freer to commit to controversial bills, like our own, and those who did not win (who are lame ducks) will also feel more free to cast a yes vote for our bill on their way out. It could be a very nice win-win situation for us after November 2nd.
But we need to keep midwifery and home birth in front of them until then. So please, keep calling your state rep for answers and keep forwarding our messages to your friends and neighbors – to anyone who might be willing to write a letter or who might live in some of our unknown districts. If you gave birth at home this year, send both your Rep and your Senator a copy of your birth announcement with a note on it – “another constituent born at home – vote YES, Home Birth Safety Act – SB3712.” If you see a good article about home birth, print and mail it to your legislator. If it’s on facebook, put it in your status line and be sure that you’ve ‘friended’ your state Rep and Senator. LETS KEEP MIDWIFERY FRONT AND CENTER FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS!!
This week please also try to help us turn 10 LIKELY YES VOTES into 10 YES VOTES. Please forward this email to anyone you know, homebirth family or not, who lives in the following Rep’s districts: Edward Acevedo – (D) Chicago Suzanne Bassi – (R) Palatine Marlow Colvin – (D) Chicago Sarah Feigenholtz – (D) Chicago Careen Gordon - (D) Serona, LaSalle County Lou Lang – (D) Niles Joseph Lyons – (D) Norwood Jack McGuire – (D) Troy, Will County Dan Reitz – (D) Centreville, St. Clair County Chapin Rose – (R) Blue Ridge, Champaign County Carole Sente – (D) Warren, Lake County Ronald Wait – (R) Belvedere, Winnebago County These reps are very close to a yes vote as far as we can tell. Please help us be sure they receive a printed copy of the New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/us/24cncmidwives.html
Please also watch for our upcoming fundraising events. Each will offer you a great opportunity to help shape the future of homebirth in Illinois. In the mean time you may always donate through paypal via our website, www.illinoismidwifery.org or you may mail checks to CFIM, c/o Vicki Johnson, 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111.
There is only one way to get this done and that is to go through it. We’re hoping everyone will step up and help us with this last big push. We thank you on behalf of the home born babies of Illinois!!
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery Board
We are moving into the home stretch. We have only four weeks left to gain enough votes to call SB 3712 for a House floor vote in the November veto session. We’ve gained a few yes votes. We’ve even gained a new co-sponsor, Eddie Lee Jackson, Jr. from East St. Louis. But we need more declared yes votes before we can call the bill for a vote on the House floor.
NOW is the time to call your legislator and ask for a clear yes or no vote on this bill. If you run into any road block (calls not returned, legislative aides telling you the bill is dead, legislators giving neither a yes nor a no vote) please mark your calendar for November 4th or 5th so you can try calling again at that time. We anticipate that after the election, those who won will feel freer to commit to controversial bills, like our own, and those who did not win (who are lame ducks) will also feel more free to cast a yes vote for our bill on their way out. It could be a very nice win-win situation for us after November 2nd.
But we need to keep midwifery and home birth in front of them until then. So please, keep calling your state rep for answers and keep forwarding our messages to your friends and neighbors – to anyone who might be willing to write a letter or who might live in some of our unknown districts. If you gave birth at home this year, send both your Rep and your Senator a copy of your birth announcement with a note on it – “another constituent born at home – vote YES, Home Birth Safety Act – SB3712.” If you see a good article about home birth, print and mail it to your legislator. If it’s on facebook, put it in your status line and be sure that you’ve ‘friended’ your state Rep and Senator. LETS KEEP MIDWIFERY FRONT AND CENTER FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS!!
This week please also try to help us turn 10 LIKELY YES VOTES into 10 YES VOTES. Please forward this email to anyone you know, homebirth family or not, who lives in the following Rep’s districts: Edward Acevedo – (D) Chicago Suzanne Bassi – (R) Palatine Marlow Colvin – (D) Chicago Sarah Feigenholtz – (D) Chicago Careen Gordon - (D) Serona, LaSalle County Lou Lang – (D) Niles Joseph Lyons – (D) Norwood Jack McGuire – (D) Troy, Will County Dan Reitz – (D) Centreville, St. Clair County Chapin Rose – (R) Blue Ridge, Champaign County Carole Sente – (D) Warren, Lake County Ronald Wait – (R) Belvedere, Winnebago County These reps are very close to a yes vote as far as we can tell. Please help us be sure they receive a printed copy of the New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/us/24cncmidwives.html
Please also watch for our upcoming fundraising events. Each will offer you a great opportunity to help shape the future of homebirth in Illinois. In the mean time you may always donate through paypal via our website, www.illinoismidwifery.org or you may mail checks to CFIM, c/o Vicki Johnson, 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111.
There is only one way to get this done and that is to go through it. We’re hoping everyone will step up and help us with this last big push. We thank you on behalf of the home born babies of Illinois!!
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery Board
Friday, September 24, 2010
We made the New York Times!!!
We made the New York Times!!!
Please see this amazing article about home birth in Illinois at www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/us/24cncmidwives.html
It is urgent that we get this article into the hands of as many Illinois legislators as possible. Please help us by printing two copies of this article and mail one each to your State Representative and your State Senator. Include a note with each asking your legislators to vote YES to SB 3712 when they see it during the November veto session.
To find your State Rep and State Senator, go to http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
Mail the article to their LOCAL office - not Springfield.
Please forward this email along to anyone, anywhere in Illinois, who you know would be willing to print and mail a copy along with a one or two line note. Let's SWAMP their desks with copies of this article! It's time for our legislators to finally see that this issue is not going away and it's getting more and more attention.
thank you in advance for your help.
The Coalition Board
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
Please see this amazing article about home birth in Illinois at www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/us/24cncmidwives.html
It is urgent that we get this article into the hands of as many Illinois legislators as possible. Please help us by printing two copies of this article and mail one each to your State Representative and your State Senator. Include a note with each asking your legislators to vote YES to SB 3712 when they see it during the November veto session.
To find your State Rep and State Senator, go to http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
Mail the article to their LOCAL office - not Springfield.
Please forward this email along to anyone, anywhere in Illinois, who you know would be willing to print and mail a copy along with a one or two line note. Let's SWAMP their desks with copies of this article! It's time for our legislators to finally see that this issue is not going away and it's getting more and more attention.
thank you in advance for your help.
The Coalition Board
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Eight Weeks Left - SB3712
Dear Home Birth and Midwifery Supporters,
We are getting down to the wire. Over the next 8 weeks we still need to gain more than 20 additional YES votes for SB3712, the Home Birth Safety Act.
There are 45 Representatives whose votes are unknown. In order to have hope of passing the bill, we must reach these legislators and find out their intentions. This may be difficult because it is the election season, but we must try. We believe we should be able to gain enough votes, but without contact in these districts, we will never know. PLEASE HELP US REACH THESE REPS!
If you knows ANYONE who lives in the districts listed below (with township and county names), please pass this message along. We need anyone in these districts to call their representative or send email (we’ve provided email addresses and phone numbers where available).
Because districts overlap into certain areas, to help people verify their rep, have them go to http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
When they contact their legislators via email or phone, we need them to simply say:
“I live in your district. I believe that regulation of home birth midwives will make home birth safer for mothers and babies. Can you please tell me how you will vote for the Home Birth Safety Act, SB3712, when it is called for a vote during the veto session?”
If they get a secretary or aide who is discouraging about the possibility of the bill being called, they should just say “yes, I understand, but IF the bill gets called, what will the Representative’s vote be?”
Whatever the response, we need the information to come back to us. Please post to the Illinois Families for Midwifery email list or send directly to Jamie at Charis490@gmail.com
WE CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP!! Thank you, as always!
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery Board
UNKNOWN
7 - Yarbrough (D) - River Forest, Oak Park, Proviso, Chicago Townships (Cook)
kyarbrough@ilga.gov (708) 615-1747
13 - Harris (D) - Chicago Township (Cook) (773) 348-3434
15 - D'Amico (D) - Northfield, Niles, Maine, Chicago Townships (Cook) johnd@ilga.gov (773) 736-0218
20 - McAuliffe (R) - Maine, Norwood Park, Chicago, Niles Townships (Cook) (773) 792-0749
22 - Madigan (D) - Lyons, Stickney, Chicago Townships (Cook) (773) 581-8000
28 - Rita (D) - Lyons, Stickney, Chicago Townships (Cook) (708) 396-2822
36 - Carberry - Palos, Worth, Chicago Townships (Cook) (708) 907-5157
37 - McCarthy (D) - Orland, Bremen, Rich, Frankfort Townships (Cook, Will) (708) 226-1999
38 - Riley (D) - Bremen, Thornton, Rich Townships (Cook) rep.riley38@sbcglobal.net (708) 799-4364
41 - Biggins (R) - York, Proviso, Riverside Townships (Cook, DuPage) (630) 941-1278
44 - Crespo (D) - Schaumburg, Hanover Townships (Cook) (630) 372-3340
45 - Coladipietro (R) - Bloomingdale, Milton Townships (DuPage) (630) 582-0045
47 - Bellock (R) - Downers Grove, Lisle Townships (DuPage) (630) 852-8633
49 - Schmitz (R) - (Kane) info@timschmitz.org (630) 845-9590
50 - Hatcher (R) - Virgil Township (Kane) (630) 553-3223
53 - Mathias (R) - Wheeling (Cook) repmathias@hotmail.com (847) 222-0061
55 - Ramey (R) - Elgin (Cook) staterepramey55@aol.com (630) 876-0703
57 - Nekritz (D) - Wheeling (Cook) enekritz@repnekritz.org (847) 257-0450
60 – Rita Mayfield (D) - Waukegan (Lake) (847) 599-2800
61 - Osmond (R) - Antioch (Lake) (847) 838-6200
68 - Winters (R) - Shirland, Rockford, Roscoe, Rockton, S. Beloit (Winnebago) (815) 282-0083
72 - Verschoore (D) - Drury (Rock Island) (309) 558-3612
73 - Leitch (R) - Wyanet (Bureau) davidleitch@ameritech.net (309) 690-7373
76 - Mautino (D) - Mendota (LaSalle) patti76th@ivnet.com (815) 664-2717
78 - Lilly - Chicago (Cook) statereplilly@yahoo.com (773) 473-7300
80 - DeLuca (D) - Bloom (Cook) repdeluca@scb.global.net (708) 672-0200
82 - Durkin (R) - Lyons (Cook) jimd@ilga.gov (708) 352-7700
84 - Cross (R) - Owsego (Kendall) (815) 254-0000
87 - Mitchell (R) - Sand Prairie (Tazewell) repmitchell@earthlink.net (217) 876-1968
88 - Brady (R) - Normal (McLean) dan@rep-danbrady.com (309) 662-1100
89 - Sacia (R) - Dunleith (JoDaviess) JimSacia@aeroinc.net (815) 232-0774
91 - Smith (D) - Fairview (Fulton) repmikesmith@gmail.com (309) 353-6276
93 - Tracy (R) - Lima (Adams) (217) 223-0833
94 - Myers (R) - Abingdon (Mercer) (309) 836-2707
95 - Fortner (R) - Geneva (Kane) (630) 293-9344
96 - Senger (R) - Naperville (DuPage) sengerstaterep@gmail.com (630) 219-3090
97 - Watson (R) - Levee (Pike) (217) 243-6221
99 - Poe (R) - Gardner (Sangamon) poe@ilga.gov (217) 782-0044
100 - Brauer (R) - Corwin (Mernard) Brauerr@housegopmail.state.il.us (217) 782-0053
107 - Cavaletto - Seminary (Fayette) (618) 548-9080
109 - Eddy (R) - Ros, Prairie (Clark, Edgar) (618) 563-4128
112 - Hoffman (D) - Granite City, Nameoki, Collinsville, Edwardsville (Madison) (618) 345-2176
113 - Holbrook (D) - Granite City, Venice, Nameoki (Madison) (618) 394-2211
114 - Jackson (D) - Venice, Stites, E. St. Louis (Madison) (618) 875-9950
117 - Bradley (D) - McLeansboro, Crook (Franklin, Hamilton)
repjohnbradley@mychoice.net (618) 997-9697
118 - Phelps (D) - (Hamilton, White) bphelps@yourclearwave.com (618) 253-4189
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
We are getting down to the wire. Over the next 8 weeks we still need to gain more than 20 additional YES votes for SB3712, the Home Birth Safety Act.
There are 45 Representatives whose votes are unknown. In order to have hope of passing the bill, we must reach these legislators and find out their intentions. This may be difficult because it is the election season, but we must try. We believe we should be able to gain enough votes, but without contact in these districts, we will never know. PLEASE HELP US REACH THESE REPS!
If you knows ANYONE who lives in the districts listed below (with township and county names), please pass this message along. We need anyone in these districts to call their representative or send email (we’ve provided email addresses and phone numbers where available).
Because districts overlap into certain areas, to help people verify their rep, have them go to http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
When they contact their legislators via email or phone, we need them to simply say:
“I live in your district. I believe that regulation of home birth midwives will make home birth safer for mothers and babies. Can you please tell me how you will vote for the Home Birth Safety Act, SB3712, when it is called for a vote during the veto session?”
If they get a secretary or aide who is discouraging about the possibility of the bill being called, they should just say “yes, I understand, but IF the bill gets called, what will the Representative’s vote be?”
Whatever the response, we need the information to come back to us. Please post to the Illinois Families for Midwifery email list or send directly to Jamie at Charis490@gmail.com
WE CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP!! Thank you, as always!
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery Board
UNKNOWN
7 - Yarbrough (D) - River Forest, Oak Park, Proviso, Chicago Townships (Cook)
kyarbrough@ilga.gov (708) 615-1747
13 - Harris (D) - Chicago Township (Cook) (773) 348-3434
15 - D'Amico (D) - Northfield, Niles, Maine, Chicago Townships (Cook) johnd@ilga.gov (773) 736-0218
20 - McAuliffe (R) - Maine, Norwood Park, Chicago, Niles Townships (Cook) (773) 792-0749
22 - Madigan (D) - Lyons, Stickney, Chicago Townships (Cook) (773) 581-8000
28 - Rita (D) - Lyons, Stickney, Chicago Townships (Cook) (708) 396-2822
36 - Carberry - Palos, Worth, Chicago Townships (Cook) (708) 907-5157
37 - McCarthy (D) - Orland, Bremen, Rich, Frankfort Townships (Cook, Will) (708) 226-1999
38 - Riley (D) - Bremen, Thornton, Rich Townships (Cook) rep.riley38@sbcglobal.net (708) 799-4364
41 - Biggins (R) - York, Proviso, Riverside Townships (Cook, DuPage) (630) 941-1278
44 - Crespo (D) - Schaumburg, Hanover Townships (Cook) (630) 372-3340
45 - Coladipietro (R) - Bloomingdale, Milton Townships (DuPage) (630) 582-0045
47 - Bellock (R) - Downers Grove, Lisle Townships (DuPage) (630) 852-8633
49 - Schmitz (R) - (Kane) info@timschmitz.org (630) 845-9590
50 - Hatcher (R) - Virgil Township (Kane) (630) 553-3223
53 - Mathias (R) - Wheeling (Cook) repmathias@hotmail.com (847) 222-0061
55 - Ramey (R) - Elgin (Cook) staterepramey55@aol.com (630) 876-0703
57 - Nekritz (D) - Wheeling (Cook) enekritz@repnekritz.org (847) 257-0450
60 – Rita Mayfield (D) - Waukegan (Lake) (847) 599-2800
61 - Osmond (R) - Antioch (Lake) (847) 838-6200
68 - Winters (R) - Shirland, Rockford, Roscoe, Rockton, S. Beloit (Winnebago) (815) 282-0083
72 - Verschoore (D) - Drury (Rock Island) (309) 558-3612
73 - Leitch (R) - Wyanet (Bureau) davidleitch@ameritech.net (309) 690-7373
76 - Mautino (D) - Mendota (LaSalle) patti76th@ivnet.com (815) 664-2717
78 - Lilly - Chicago (Cook) statereplilly@yahoo.com (773) 473-7300
80 - DeLuca (D) - Bloom (Cook) repdeluca@scb.global.net (708) 672-0200
82 - Durkin (R) - Lyons (Cook) jimd@ilga.gov (708) 352-7700
84 - Cross (R) - Owsego (Kendall) (815) 254-0000
87 - Mitchell (R) - Sand Prairie (Tazewell) repmitchell@earthlink.net (217) 876-1968
88 - Brady (R) - Normal (McLean) dan@rep-danbrady.com (309) 662-1100
89 - Sacia (R) - Dunleith (JoDaviess) JimSacia@aeroinc.net (815) 232-0774
91 - Smith (D) - Fairview (Fulton) repmikesmith@gmail.com (309) 353-6276
93 - Tracy (R) - Lima (Adams) (217) 223-0833
94 - Myers (R) - Abingdon (Mercer) (309) 836-2707
95 - Fortner (R) - Geneva (Kane) (630) 293-9344
96 - Senger (R) - Naperville (DuPage) sengerstaterep@gmail.com (630) 219-3090
97 - Watson (R) - Levee (Pike) (217) 243-6221
99 - Poe (R) - Gardner (Sangamon) poe@ilga.gov (217) 782-0044
100 - Brauer (R) - Corwin (Mernard) Brauerr@housegopmail.state.il.us (217) 782-0053
107 - Cavaletto - Seminary (Fayette) (618) 548-9080
109 - Eddy (R) - Ros, Prairie (Clark, Edgar) (618) 563-4128
112 - Hoffman (D) - Granite City, Nameoki, Collinsville, Edwardsville (Madison) (618) 345-2176
113 - Holbrook (D) - Granite City, Venice, Nameoki (Madison) (618) 394-2211
114 - Jackson (D) - Venice, Stites, E. St. Louis (Madison) (618) 875-9950
117 - Bradley (D) - McLeansboro, Crook (Franklin, Hamilton)
repjohnbradley@mychoice.net (618) 997-9697
118 - Phelps (D) - (Hamilton, White) bphelps@yourclearwave.com (618) 253-4189
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Home Birth Safety Act Update - summer 2010
Dear Home Birth and Midwifery Supporters
Summer is well underway as we continue working toward CPM licensure in Illinois through passage of the Home Birth Safety Act. This letter will update you on the current status of the bill as well as tell you what you can do to help us push the bill the rest of the way through our state legislature so it can finally become law.
First and foremost, to all of you who called your legislators and went to Springfield this year and also those who participated in the Walk for Midwives and other fundraising efforts this spring, Thank You! We are now in the best position we’ve ever been. Not only has the Home Birth Safety Act passed a House committee for the first time in 30 years of trying, but our Coalition has earned a new level of respect in Springfield. What legislators once saw as a little group of mothers and others for midwives has evolved into an active and dynamic entity that is turning the tide against one of the state’s most powerful lobbies – the State Medical Society. This is largely due to your participation in this effort. Again, thank you.
To remind you of recent changes, the Home Birth Safety Act which has been HB 226 since January of 2009, is now SB 3712. This change occurred in April 2010 when the language from HB226 was amended to an existing bill that was no longer needed. That bill still carries its original name, Veterinary Records, but the language has been gutted and replaced with ours. For anyone wishing to look the bill up, go to www.ilga.gov and look up SB3712. Then click on full text, then click on House Amendment 001.
Here is the bill’s current status. SB 3712 passed out of the House Health Disparities Committee on
May 6, 2010. The next stop is the House chamber for a full floor vote. As of right now, if we can count upon our yes votes to stay yeses, we have 36 of the needed 60 votes to pass the House. We also have a number of “Likely Yeses” If they vote with us, that leaves about 10 more YES votes needed.
You may notice the numbers have changed a bit since our last writing. This is because of the Medical Society’s strong lobbying after our bill passed in committee, as well as because of the sad loss of one Representative, Eddie Washington, who passed away unexpectedly last month.
We have from now until the last few days of the 96th General Assembly – the first few days of January – before the next General Assembly is sworn in, to earn a total of 60 votes and pass SB 3712. If the bill passes the House, it will go to the Senate for concurrence (since the original bill already passed the Senate). But to get there, we need your help.
Here’s how you can work with the Coalition to help make the dream of licensed home birth Certified Professional Midwives in Illinois, a reality:
• FIRST CONTACT AND WORK WITH YOUR OWN STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND HELP OTHERS CONTACT THEIRS.
o Check the list at the end of this email to find out if your rep is listed as a YES vote.
(go to www.ilga.gov then click on legislator lookup to find out who your rep).
o If your rep is listed as a YES vote, please contact their office by phone and let them know you wanted to verify that they will be supporting the Home Birth Safety Act when it comes up for a vote sometime during veto session, and of course thank them for that yes vote. If you hear anything other than yes, ask if you might have an appointment to come talk to them about it. Let us know what they say. If you get an appointment we may be able to come to that appointment with you or coach you over the phone if needed. Contact us by sending email to Jamie at Charis490@gmail.com.
o If your representative is not listed as a YES, please contact their office and ask for an appointment to come speak to them about SB 3712 – the Home Birth Safety Act. Contact us at Jamie’s address above and hopefully we can come with you or send someone knowledgeable.
o IF YOU HEAR FROM YOUR REPRESENTATIVE THAT THEY HAVE JUST HEARD THAT A NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT HOMEBIRTH IS NOT SAFE, PLEASE MENTION THAT THIS STUDY HAS COME UNDER FIRE FOR BEING EXTREMELY FLAWED AND POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, THEN GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK TO PRINT AND BRING WITH YOU OR SEND TO YOUR REP. http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/_ccLib/downloads/7-7-2010_PushNews_RELEASE_OB-GYN_Journal_Fast_Tracks_Publicity_on_Deeply_Flawed_Study.pdf
o If you are just not able to make a visit, please send a letter to your legislator (contact Jiandra@aol.com for a sample letter). Then follow up with a phone call a week later asking the secretary if your rep received the letter and can you count on their yes vote when the bill comes up? If you hear the bill is dead, please don’t believe it – remember we’ve already proved that wrong this year. Let them know you realize it’s late but “IF”
the bill comes up how will they vote? Let them know you’d like them to make a public show of support for this piece of legislation that will improve the health and safety of home born babies.
o BECOME A MENTOR. If you are someone who has visited your rep before and are comfortable going along to help someone else who has never visited their rep before, please consider becoming a legislative visit mentor. With your coaching, someone who might not otherwise have gone, might bring in the final needed vote!
o Finally, we strongly encourage you to find out THIS WEEK if your rep is running for re-election. If you are comfortable supporting them, ask their secretary to put you in touch with their campaign volunteer office. If you feel more comfortable supporting another candidate of the same or opposite party, do that instead, but please do consider volunteering. Even two simple hours of stuffing envelopes or checking signatures will go a LONG way toward supporting the Home Birth Safety Act. Working campaigns is one of the keys to getting support. We’ve seen proof of this in other states that have successfully passed midwifery legislation. If you do not have a local campaign you can support, let us know. We can direct you toward other possibilities.
o If you do plan to volunteer, let us know with email to Jiandra@aol.com so we can send you list of hints and suggestions that will optimize your presence.
• SECOND, HELP US REACH THE MORE THAN 50 REPS WHO ARE COMPLETE UNKNOWNS IN TERMS OF THEIR VOTE FOR THIS BILL.
o Please forward this email around to everyone you know who believes that women who have a home birth should have nationally certified professional midwives available to attend their birth legally, as opposed to underground, in the state of Illinois. Send to people outside of your local community – acquaintances across the state, your aunts and cousins, old schoolmates, anyone. We must reach as many state legislators as possible.
o Encourage anyone you reach to visit their legislators also. If they are not comfortable doing so, encourage them to download the attached letter, print, sign and send to their legislator. You can make this easy for them by looking up their legislator’s local address for them.
o Watch for our messages on Facebook, Meetup.com and various blogs. Watch also for a message through change.org. Please pass these messages along using your social media connections. This will increase the number of constituents, and therefore legislators, that we reach. We are looking for a conservative website similar to change.org to pass our message along. If anyone knows of a site, please let us know by contacting Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com
o Finally, help us find groups or create groups – anywhere that five or more people can come together – where the Coalition can come speak about the licensure bill and answer questions. We’d like to reach all kinds of groups, alternative and main stream – anyone who might think birthing mothers should have control over where and with whom they have their babies. If you find a group willing to invite us, please contact Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com.
• THIRD AND FINALLY - HELP US RAISE FUNDS
o Right now, thanks to everyone’s generosity, we have our lobbyist paid in full, but we still must spend the summer meeting with state agencies and other professional groups in preparation for our upcoming attempt at a floor vote. To accomplish this, we will be engaging our lobbyist as needed throughout the rest of the year. This means a continued need for funds. Please contact us if you can put together a “Labor Day” picnic in your area or hostess an autumn open house, a pancake breakfast, a garage sale, a film showing (we have a number of film we could lend) or other. Let us know if you can help by contacting Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com.
o If you have crafts or other items you are willing to donate for sale or for raffle, the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives will be attending the regional conference for the Midwives Alliance of North America on the weekend of July 16th – 18th. The Council is part of the Coalition and donates most of its proceeds to lobbying. Please contact Vicki Johnson at Babylady55@aol.com with any donations. You must be able to get them to Evanston or Rockford by July 14th.
o Make a personal donation. If everyone reading this donated $10 today we would have the rest of this year covered. Please donate $10, or more if you can. Ask friends and family members to as well. Let them know it will help make home birth safer for mothers and babies. Go to www.illinoismidwifery.org and click on the paypal link to make a donation or mail a check to CFIM, c/o Vicki Johnson 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111
o Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/
We look forward to hearing from you this summer. Watch for more communication from us as the bill continues to move forward. And finally, thank you. We are full of gratitude for your support of the thousands of Illinois mothers, babies, families and midwives that the Home Birth Safety Act will help over the coming years.
Best Wishes,
Rachel Dolan Wickersham
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
LIST OF STATE REPRESENTATIVES WHO ARE CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO BE “YES” VOTES FOR SB 3712, THE HOME BIRTH SAFETY ACT:
Arroyo, Berrios, Beaubein, Black, Boland, Burke, Chapa LaVia, Collins, Coulson, Cultra, Currie, Davis, Davis, Dunkin, Flider, Flowers, Ford, Froehlich, Gabel, Hannig, Hernandez, Howard, Jakobsson, Jefferson, Joyce, Mell, Mendoza, Osterman, Rita, Sommer, Stephens, Tryon, Turner, Walker, Winters, Zalewski
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
Summer is well underway as we continue working toward CPM licensure in Illinois through passage of the Home Birth Safety Act. This letter will update you on the current status of the bill as well as tell you what you can do to help us push the bill the rest of the way through our state legislature so it can finally become law.
First and foremost, to all of you who called your legislators and went to Springfield this year and also those who participated in the Walk for Midwives and other fundraising efforts this spring, Thank You! We are now in the best position we’ve ever been. Not only has the Home Birth Safety Act passed a House committee for the first time in 30 years of trying, but our Coalition has earned a new level of respect in Springfield. What legislators once saw as a little group of mothers and others for midwives has evolved into an active and dynamic entity that is turning the tide against one of the state’s most powerful lobbies – the State Medical Society. This is largely due to your participation in this effort. Again, thank you.
To remind you of recent changes, the Home Birth Safety Act which has been HB 226 since January of 2009, is now SB 3712. This change occurred in April 2010 when the language from HB226 was amended to an existing bill that was no longer needed. That bill still carries its original name, Veterinary Records, but the language has been gutted and replaced with ours. For anyone wishing to look the bill up, go to www.ilga.gov and look up SB3712. Then click on full text, then click on House Amendment 001.
Here is the bill’s current status. SB 3712 passed out of the House Health Disparities Committee on
May 6, 2010. The next stop is the House chamber for a full floor vote. As of right now, if we can count upon our yes votes to stay yeses, we have 36 of the needed 60 votes to pass the House. We also have a number of “Likely Yeses” If they vote with us, that leaves about 10 more YES votes needed.
You may notice the numbers have changed a bit since our last writing. This is because of the Medical Society’s strong lobbying after our bill passed in committee, as well as because of the sad loss of one Representative, Eddie Washington, who passed away unexpectedly last month.
We have from now until the last few days of the 96th General Assembly – the first few days of January – before the next General Assembly is sworn in, to earn a total of 60 votes and pass SB 3712. If the bill passes the House, it will go to the Senate for concurrence (since the original bill already passed the Senate). But to get there, we need your help.
Here’s how you can work with the Coalition to help make the dream of licensed home birth Certified Professional Midwives in Illinois, a reality:
• FIRST CONTACT AND WORK WITH YOUR OWN STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND HELP OTHERS CONTACT THEIRS.
o Check the list at the end of this email to find out if your rep is listed as a YES vote.
(go to www.ilga.gov then click on legislator lookup to find out who your rep).
o If your rep is listed as a YES vote, please contact their office by phone and let them know you wanted to verify that they will be supporting the Home Birth Safety Act when it comes up for a vote sometime during veto session, and of course thank them for that yes vote. If you hear anything other than yes, ask if you might have an appointment to come talk to them about it. Let us know what they say. If you get an appointment we may be able to come to that appointment with you or coach you over the phone if needed. Contact us by sending email to Jamie at Charis490@gmail.com.
o If your representative is not listed as a YES, please contact their office and ask for an appointment to come speak to them about SB 3712 – the Home Birth Safety Act. Contact us at Jamie’s address above and hopefully we can come with you or send someone knowledgeable.
o IF YOU HEAR FROM YOUR REPRESENTATIVE THAT THEY HAVE JUST HEARD THAT A NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT HOMEBIRTH IS NOT SAFE, PLEASE MENTION THAT THIS STUDY HAS COME UNDER FIRE FOR BEING EXTREMELY FLAWED AND POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, THEN GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK TO PRINT AND BRING WITH YOU OR SEND TO YOUR REP. http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/_ccLib/downloads/7-7-2010_PushNews_RELEASE_OB-GYN_Journal_Fast_Tracks_Publicity_on_Deeply_Flawed_Study.pdf
o If you are just not able to make a visit, please send a letter to your legislator (contact Jiandra@aol.com for a sample letter). Then follow up with a phone call a week later asking the secretary if your rep received the letter and can you count on their yes vote when the bill comes up? If you hear the bill is dead, please don’t believe it – remember we’ve already proved that wrong this year. Let them know you realize it’s late but “IF”
the bill comes up how will they vote? Let them know you’d like them to make a public show of support for this piece of legislation that will improve the health and safety of home born babies.
o BECOME A MENTOR. If you are someone who has visited your rep before and are comfortable going along to help someone else who has never visited their rep before, please consider becoming a legislative visit mentor. With your coaching, someone who might not otherwise have gone, might bring in the final needed vote!
o Finally, we strongly encourage you to find out THIS WEEK if your rep is running for re-election. If you are comfortable supporting them, ask their secretary to put you in touch with their campaign volunteer office. If you feel more comfortable supporting another candidate of the same or opposite party, do that instead, but please do consider volunteering. Even two simple hours of stuffing envelopes or checking signatures will go a LONG way toward supporting the Home Birth Safety Act. Working campaigns is one of the keys to getting support. We’ve seen proof of this in other states that have successfully passed midwifery legislation. If you do not have a local campaign you can support, let us know. We can direct you toward other possibilities.
o If you do plan to volunteer, let us know with email to Jiandra@aol.com so we can send you list of hints and suggestions that will optimize your presence.
• SECOND, HELP US REACH THE MORE THAN 50 REPS WHO ARE COMPLETE UNKNOWNS IN TERMS OF THEIR VOTE FOR THIS BILL.
o Please forward this email around to everyone you know who believes that women who have a home birth should have nationally certified professional midwives available to attend their birth legally, as opposed to underground, in the state of Illinois. Send to people outside of your local community – acquaintances across the state, your aunts and cousins, old schoolmates, anyone. We must reach as many state legislators as possible.
o Encourage anyone you reach to visit their legislators also. If they are not comfortable doing so, encourage them to download the attached letter, print, sign and send to their legislator. You can make this easy for them by looking up their legislator’s local address for them.
o Watch for our messages on Facebook, Meetup.com and various blogs. Watch also for a message through change.org. Please pass these messages along using your social media connections. This will increase the number of constituents, and therefore legislators, that we reach. We are looking for a conservative website similar to change.org to pass our message along. If anyone knows of a site, please let us know by contacting Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com
o Finally, help us find groups or create groups – anywhere that five or more people can come together – where the Coalition can come speak about the licensure bill and answer questions. We’d like to reach all kinds of groups, alternative and main stream – anyone who might think birthing mothers should have control over where and with whom they have their babies. If you find a group willing to invite us, please contact Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com.
• THIRD AND FINALLY - HELP US RAISE FUNDS
o Right now, thanks to everyone’s generosity, we have our lobbyist paid in full, but we still must spend the summer meeting with state agencies and other professional groups in preparation for our upcoming attempt at a floor vote. To accomplish this, we will be engaging our lobbyist as needed throughout the rest of the year. This means a continued need for funds. Please contact us if you can put together a “Labor Day” picnic in your area or hostess an autumn open house, a pancake breakfast, a garage sale, a film showing (we have a number of film we could lend) or other. Let us know if you can help by contacting Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com.
o If you have crafts or other items you are willing to donate for sale or for raffle, the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives will be attending the regional conference for the Midwives Alliance of North America on the weekend of July 16th – 18th. The Council is part of the Coalition and donates most of its proceeds to lobbying. Please contact Vicki Johnson at Babylady55@aol.com with any donations. You must be able to get them to Evanston or Rockford by July 14th.
o Make a personal donation. If everyone reading this donated $10 today we would have the rest of this year covered. Please donate $10, or more if you can. Ask friends and family members to as well. Let them know it will help make home birth safer for mothers and babies. Go to www.illinoismidwifery.org and click on the paypal link to make a donation or mail a check to CFIM, c/o Vicki Johnson 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111
o Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/
We look forward to hearing from you this summer. Watch for more communication from us as the bill continues to move forward. And finally, thank you. We are full of gratitude for your support of the thousands of Illinois mothers, babies, families and midwives that the Home Birth Safety Act will help over the coming years.
Best Wishes,
Rachel Dolan Wickersham
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
LIST OF STATE REPRESENTATIVES WHO ARE CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO BE “YES” VOTES FOR SB 3712, THE HOME BIRTH SAFETY ACT:
Arroyo, Berrios, Beaubein, Black, Boland, Burke, Chapa LaVia, Collins, Coulson, Cultra, Currie, Davis, Davis, Dunkin, Flider, Flowers, Ford, Froehlich, Gabel, Hannig, Hernandez, Howard, Jakobsson, Jefferson, Joyce, Mell, Mendoza, Osterman, Rita, Sommer, Stephens, Tryon, Turner, Walker, Winters, Zalewski
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
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