Imagine someone needing medical help and wanting healthcare options that are affordable and comfortable. Now imagine she has no choices in a freedom-loving state like Missouri because of bad laws that eliminate the most cost-effective options.

Seven years ago the practice of midwifery became legal in our state. Before that we were the only state where it was a felony to practice midwifery. I share the story with you today because it best illustrates how nearly impossible it is to pass good laws that offer us more freedom and how easy it is to pass bad laws that take away our freedom.

The first year I was elected to the House of Representatives, a lady come to my office asking me to sponsor an effort to legalize midwifery. Having gone through seven birth experiences of my own, I had more knowledge of this subject than any other legislator in the Capitol. I don’t even know her name, but she planted a seed in my mind that never left me.