Updated July 21, 2026
If you’ve been following along, you know we’ve been fighting. If you’re just hearing about this, read every word.
Pennsylvania is attempting to eliminate traditional home birth midwifery, and we are taking that fight to court.
Here’s the full picture.
How we got here.
Earlier this year, Pennsylvania passed SB507, signed into law as Act 14 of 2026. It was presented as a new midwifery licensure framework. What it actually does is expand state control over private births and make independent midwifery illegal to practice, effectively stripping families of their right to choose where, how, and with whom they give birth.
We filed suit in Commonwealth Court on July 2, 2026.
Ten days later, on July 12th, while most of Pennsylvania was going about its Sunday, the Commonwealth quietly slipped language into a 191-page budget bill — Act 21 — that repealed the Midwife Regulation Law of 1929. A law that has governed and protected traditional midwifery in this state for nearly 100 years. Gone. Buried in a fiscal code bill that had nothing to do with midwifery. The repeal was less than one full page inside a 191-page document.
Two days after that, the state’s attorney contacted our legal team for the first time since we filed suit — not to discuss the case, but to tell us the lawsuit was now “moot” and to ask us to withdraw it.
We said no.
🚨 Breaking: A win. 🚨
We just received word that the Court has denied the Commonwealth’s motion for an extension of time.
That means the state cannot slow this down. The Commonwealth must respond on the Court’s schedule, not their own. This fight moves forward, on our terms, on our timeline.
We’ll take it.
Where we stand now.
On July 17th, the Commonwealth Court denied our request for emergency injunctive relief, ruling that we would not face irreparable harm before the scheduled hearing date. What the Court did do is schedule a full hearing for Wednesday, August 5, 2026 at 10:00am at the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg and that hearing now encompasses everything. Our original lawsuit, the repeal of the 1929 Law, all of it. Witnesses. Expert testimony. Exhibits. Motions. This is essentially a full trial, and we have 19 days to prepare.
We will be there. And we want you there too.
What this is really about.
The repeal of the 1929 Midwife Regulation Law was not an accident. It was a direct response to our lawsuit, slipped into a must-pass budget bill the same day it was voted on and signed — a bill whose title doesn’t even mention midwifery. Our legal team has identified multiple violations of the Pennsylvania Constitution, including the single-subject rule, the original-purpose clause, and due process protections. You cannot strip a century of legal protection from an entire profession and the families who depend on it without debate, without notice, and without a conversation.
That is not governance. That is erasure.
For over 30 years and 1,500 births, Mountain Laurel Midwifery has served families of every background and belief. We have served Amish and Mennonite families whose religious practice requires home birth. We have served first-time mamas and seasoned ones, LGBTQ+ families, VBAC families, families who drove hours because they knew this care was different.
Every single one of them deserves better than this.
The hearing is at 10am on Wednesday, August 5 at the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg.
Here’s how you can help.
Join us on Zoom this Thursday, July 23rd at 7:30pm EST. This is your opportunity to learn what the law means, ask questions, and find out exactly how you can help. A Zoom link will be shared shortly. Follow our Facebook page for updates.
Share this post. Share it with every family who has ever been touched by the care of a midwife. Share it with everyone who believes that birth belongs to families, not to institutions, not to budget bills, not to the state.
Click here to contribute directly to help with legal fees.
Filmmakers and journalists are already taking notice. This story is being told. We want your voice to be part of it.
We have been doing this for 30 years. We are not going anywhere.
In service and in solidarity,
Roberta Devers
Mountain Laurel Midwifery