05/02/2025
This is a huge and historic win for birth centers, families, and midwives in Alabama!!! π€©π₯³ππΌ
π We WON! π
Weβre thrilled to share that Alabama Birth Center, alongside Oasis Family Birthing Center, Birth Sanctuary Gainesville, and ACLU of Alabama, has secured a landmark legal victory for birthing rights in Alabama!
The lawsuit was filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court in Montgomery by the ACLU, ACLU of Alabama, and Bobby Segall of Copeland Franco on behalf of: Oasis Family Birthing Center, Dr. Heather Skanes, Alabama Birth Center, Dr. Yashica Robinson, Jo Crawford, CPM, Tracie Stone, CPM, and The Alabama affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
The judge issued a permanent judgment and injunction, stating:
"The Court hereby DECLARES ... that freestanding birth centers operating in the midwifery model of care are not 'hospitals' under section 22-21-20(1) of the Alabama Code and, therefore, ADPH has no authority to require these centers to obtain a hospital license or to regulate them as hospitals."
π₯ If ADPH had been allowed to regulate birth centers, they would have imposed unnecessary and inappropriate restrictions that violate the rights of midwives, patients, and birth center operators.
This is a HUGE win for:
βοΈ Birth freedom
βοΈ Midwifery care
βοΈ Families seeking safe, respectful options for birth
π The future of birth in Alabama just got a whole lot brighter. π