04/26/2025
Clients, birth workers, friends.
If midwifery in Texas matters to you please read the following and take action as you feel led.
We urgently need your voice. This is a critical moment for our profession.
House Bill 4553 has officially been set for a hearing in the House Public Health Committee on Monday, April 28 at 8:00 A.M. in Room E2.030 at the Capitol.
House Bill 4553 threatens the autonomy of our profession under the guise of data collection. While framed as a neutral reporting bill, HB 4553 lays the groundwork for invasive oversight, misrepresentation of outcomes, and the further medicalization of midwifery care without the context or nuance necessary to accurately represent our clients or our work.
We need every midwife, student, client, and supporter to contact the public health committee and urge them to oppose HB 4553.
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What You Can Do Today:
1. Call the Public Health Committee – urge them to oppose HB 4553.
Phone: 512-463-0806
2. Contact Chairman VanDeaver directly – tell him to withdraw his support for this bill.
Email: gary.vandeaver@house.texas.gov
Phone: 512-463-0692
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Call Script or Email Template:
Subject: Oppose HB 4553 – Protect Midwifery from over regulation and medicalization. Protect Family Choice
Dear [Chairman VanDeaver / Public Health Committee Member],
I am a [licensed midwife/client/family member/supporter] writing to strongly oppose House Bill 4553, scheduled for hearing on Monday, April 28. This bill, though presented as a neutral data reporting proposal, contains harmful and confusing language that would result in over regulation, redundant statistics collection, the medicalization of and the erosion of midwifery care in Texas.
Texas midwives are already held to high standards of safety and accountability. This bill duplicates existing reporting, imposes burdensome new rules, threatens privacy, and undermines informed choice in birth.
I respectfully urge you to oppose HB 4553 and support true solutions that protect safe birthing options across our state.
Sincerely,
[Your Full Name]
[Your Address]
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We must act now. Please make your call today, and help us mobilize clients and supporters in your community.
Please share this with your clients, supporters, and colleagues. We must move swiftly and with solidarity.
Midwives are not the problem—we are part of the solution. Let’s ensure that our voices, and the voices of the families we serve, are heard loud and clear at the Capitol.
Thank you for standing for midwifery, for birthing families, and for the preservation of midwifery care in Texas.
