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In Indiana, nurse midwives (registered nurses with additional training in obstetrics) do not attend home births. Many families wanting home births seek out certified professional midwives who are not legally allowed to practice midwifery in the state. A House bill is being sponsored again in this legislative session to establish state regulation for certified professional midwives.
HB 2254 in Arizona, which has passed the House Health Committee, would require physicians to tell women seeking an abortion that the fetus can feel pain after 20 weeks' gestation - a claim that not everyone in the medical community agrees with. Physicians who do not comply could have their license suspended or revoked. The bill is still under further consideration.
The number and recognition of Nurse Practitioners (Registered Nurses with additional training and prescriptive authority) has increased in recent years in the US, but Canadian NPs are still striving for that recognition. The director of nurse practitioner programs at the University of Toronto Faculty of Nursing says the lack of standardization in training leads to confusion about the profession's role. Many Ontario schools are now beginning to revise their nurse practitioner curriculum, and the Canadian Nurse Practitioner Initiative is proposing standardized professional requirements nationwide.
The Supreme Court has voted with a 6-3 majority to uphold an Oregon right-to-die law. The law permits the terminally ill to take an overdose of drugs if two doctors agree with the terminal diagnosis and the patient is of sound mind. The majority justices agreed that the federal government did not have authority to prosecute physicians.
Richard N. Swett, architect, 2-term member of Congress, and former US ambassador to Denmark, has recently published a book detailing the history of the architecture profession in the US. He relates the development of the American Institute of Architects in New York and later movements for licensing laws in New York.
