NACPM deplores the most recent instance of the current administration’s assault on the rights of American citizens: denying passport applications from those born at home with midwives, especially along our southern border with Mexico. This denial of the rights of people of color is part of a pattern of racial bias that has grown and become codified in policies of this administration, including separating children from their families at the border, detention of those seeking asylum, migrants funneled into the most dangerous parts of the desert, citizens threatened with deportation, barriers imposed by stricter federal voter identification rules, and now a denial of citizenship.

NACPM endorses the Health Policy Statement on Passport Denials issued by the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) . NACPM joins MANA in condemning any involvement of healthcare professionals in the provision of fraudulent vital records. Most importantly, however, NACPM shares the deep concern about the egregious and persistent violation of rights based on race or ethnicity. We join MANA in calling for respect for the integrity of midwives and their life-saving care for families choosing and needing homebirth services. We join their call to the Trump administration to abide by the principles of justice and the government settlement in the 2009 case litigated by the American Civil Liberties Union to end discrimination against those from border states who were born at home.