Relating to creating the Birth Freedom Act

HB 2455, the Birth Freedom Act, protects women's rights to choose where and with whom they give birth, including home births or birth centers, and to direct all aspects of their prenatal, labor, delivery, and postpartum care. It removes barriers for birth centers by repealing certificate of need requirements, eliminating mandatory hospital transfer agreements, and prohibiting state agencies from creating new mandatory occupational licenses for maternal care providers. The bill explicitly states that birth centers are exempt from location proximity rules to hospitals and clarifies that midwives may practice within their training scope (but cannot prescribe medications). This directly affects women seeking non-hospital birth options, midwives, birth center operators, and healthcare providers offering maternal care in non-hospital settings.