Parenting Freedoms
By Lucky Tomaszek
Let Freedom Ring
Having lived in a couple of different states before moving to Wisconsin, and having made lots of cyber-friends from all over the country, I can tell you that we live in a pretty good place for parenting freedoms. This state truly seems to trust parents here to make the best decisions for their children.
However, under our current presidential administration, things are changing around the country. Parents need to be watchful, keeping an eye on what’s going on in the world of parenting politics. Consumer activism is the most powerful tool in America for maintaining or changing the status quo.
Wisconsin’s laws about homebirth and traditional homebirth midwifery are conveniently vague. The law does not discuss homebirth. The law also does not address non-nurse midwifery. The absence of mention of these subjects make Wisconsin an alegal (or gray) state for people who want to give birth at home with a non-nurse midwife. Right now, that’s very nice for the home birthing community. The state knows that families are choosing homebirth and that traditional midwives are attending. Midwives receive birth certificate forms from the state and sign them. Midwives also advertise openly here, in newspapers, magazines and even the phone book.
Unfortunately, it’s always possible for this to change. Because traditional homebirth midwifery is not protected by law, it would be very easy for the pendulum to swing the other way, as it has in Illinois. Twenty years ago, Illinois had an active homebirth midwifery community, and now, due to the state re-interpreting the Nurse Practice Act, there are approximately five non-nurse midwives practicing in the state.
Similar to our lack of regulation regarding traditional homebirth midwives, Wisconsin also has no laws on the books regarding freestanding Birth Centers. Currently, there is only one freestanding Birth Center in the state, located in Madison. The Certified Nurse Midwives who are running the Birth Center are putting together legislation in the hopes of regulation and thus, protection from being closed down, if the law is re-interpreted as it was with homebirth midwifery in Illinois.
There are some murmurings of a freestanding Birth Center opening in the Milwaukee are in the next two or three months. But the woman who is working on this wants to see how it goes in Madison and lend her hand to legislative efforts before dedicating her heart and soul (and hundreds of thousands of dollars) to a project that could be washed up by a change of spirit in the Wisconsin legislature.
Freedom to vaccinate (or not)
Most people vaccinate their kids automatically, out of a desire to protect their children from illness and disease. But vaccination is a deeply personal decision that should be made by people who have chosen to become truly informed about the benefits and risks. Both the pro- and anti- vaccination camps have compelling evidence to support their claims, and both have some truly inspiring things to say about the rightness of their own convictions. Whether or not you choose to inoculate your children, most people agree that parents should have the right to decline vaccinations.
Wisconsin is one of only 17 states that allow parents a philosophical exemption to routine vaccination. The philosophical exemption allows you to enroll your unvaccinated child in daycare, public school, summer camp, sports teams and the like by simply signing a waiver stating that you have chosen not to vaccinate for personal reasons. There are exceptions to this, however. Private entities (such as some private schools or child care programs) are allowed to require that children who are enrolled with them are inoculated, so be sure to ask about this.
Freedom to nurse in public
Mothers all over the country have the implicit right to breast feed their babies where ever they are, whenever the baby needs to nurse. There is not a state in the union that has any regulations prohibiting breastfeeding anywhere the mother has the right to be.
Freedom to homeschool
I have already written about the Wisconsin laws regarding home schooling and its growing popularity all over the country (see my column in Vital Source, April 2003), so I will try to be brief now. There is not a state in the country where home schooling is not legal, although the right to home school is not constitutionally guaranteed.
In Wisconsin, home schooling is especially easy from a legal standpoint. All that a parent need do is call the Department of Public Instruction’s Home-Based Private Education and request form PI-1206. Fill out the form, which is quite simple (it doesn’t even ask for your child’s name) and return it. This needs to be done at the beginning of each school year. The laws on home schooling really put the responsibility of educating children in the hands of their parents.
