Supporters of a lawsuit challenging a Hawaii midwife licensure law gather outside a courthouse in Honolulu on Monday, June 10, 2024. – Ki‘inaniokalani Kahoʻohanohano longed for a deeper connection to her Native Hawaiian ancestors and culture as she prepared to give birth to her first child at home on the north shore of Maui in 2003.
The measure requires anyone who provides “assessment, monitoring, and care” during pregnancy, labor, childbirth and during the postpartum period to be licensed. The women's lawsuit says that would include a wide range of people, including midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, and even family and friends of the new mother.
State Deputy Attorney General Isaac Ickes told Judge Shirley Kawamura that the law doesn’t outlaw Native Hawaiian midwifery or homebirths, but that requiring a license reduces the risks of harm or death. Among the nine plaintiffs are women who seek traditional births and argue that the new licensing requirement violates their right of privacy and reproductive autonomy under Hawaii's Constitution. They are represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.