#Center for Reproductive Rights

Kiʻinaniokalani Kahoʻohanohano, who served her Maui community as a traditional midwife for 20 years before rstate laws forced her to stop, can now return to her practice without fear of prison time. The State of Hawaiʻi has agreed to end a legal challenge, which midwife advocates are hailing as a significant victory that protects Native Hawaiian […]

A Hawai‘i state court on Tuesday temporarily blocked part of the Midwifery Restriction Law, which prevents pregnant people in Hawai‘i from using traditional midwives for their pregnancies and births. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, and the law firm Perkins Coie on behalf of nine plaintiffs, including six midwives and student midwives, as well as three women who wish to access care from traditional midwives.

A lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the Center for Reproductive Rights challenging a midwifery law that they say is preventing pregnant people in Hawaiʻi from using skilled midwives for their pregnancies and births, as they have for generations.

The measure is aimed at helping to ensure that people across the country can access and afford over-the-counter birth control options and “plan their own reproductive lives, on their own terms.”