Lesson #8 - Using Newspapers to Educate our Legislators

A major step in making waves for CPMs in Alabama is to consistently have our voices published in local newspapers by submitting a Letter to the Editor. This is free advertising of our point of view, plus most legislators read these daily. Letters to the Editor are typically about 200-250 words (check your local paper’s policy). These letters are a great way to educate the public, and they work best if we come across as educated, reasonable people – no ranting and raving allowed. Citizens for Midwifery offers tips for writing Letters to the Editor on their website. They also provide numerous Resources including Fact Sheets on many issues related to the Midwives Model of Care.
  1. Major Points: There are many different angles one can take when writing a letter, and we want to cover as many angles as possible. Whether you focus on personal experience, statistics, or common sense, there are two major points we want to incorporate in each letter:
    1. The CPM is a nationally recognized credential that is working well in 28 states.
    2. We need state legislators to legalize midwifery and pass a CPM licensure act in order to have access to these skilled midwives.

  2. Remember to frame your letter from your personal perspective as a citizen in Alabama or as a home birth parent. Only official representatives of the Alabama Birth Coalition or Alabama Midwives Alliance should submit letters on behalf of our state organizations.

  3. Share published letters with your legislators: In a perfect world, we would have back-to-back letters published every day in every local newspaper in the state, praising the value of CPMs every day from now until the bill passes. At least a handful of people in each district would be emailing the online link for that day's published letter directly into their legislators' e-mail boxes. They would address their legislator by name, add a personal sentence or two, the URL for the Letter to the Editor (maybe also a direct link to the British Medical Journal CPM study), plus end with their full name, street address, and phone number.

  4. This strategy feeds two birds from the same bird-feeder. The moment legislators read an e-mail from a constituent that contains a link to a letter in their local paper, an obvious realization will strike: every single person who is reading the local paper that day is at least having a passing thought about Alabama’s limited birthing options, and wondering whether the CPM licensure act will pass. Also, they realize that the spotlight is on them to remedy the problem, by making it a priority to update Alabama law this session to license CPMs. If we only have letters printed twice a week instead of seven times, that is AWESOME too! Even once a week is great. The point is to use every opportunity to contact legislators about the CPM issue, and email is very convenient.

  5. Step-by-step Guide to submitting a Letter to the Editor:
    1. Type and save your letter on your computer. If the paper doesn't publish it the first time, re-submit it a couple days later.
    2. Google the name of your town and local newspaper.
    3. Of the options that come up, click on the homepage of your local paper.
    4. Scan the top of the homepage for "Voices" or "Get Published" or "Letter to the Editor".
    5. If asked to provide some fields of personal information, do so.
    6. After you do that, when you find the box to submit your letter, simply highlight your pre-typed letter, right-click to select copy (or simultaneously press CTRL-V). Then put the cursor inside the letter-to-editor box, and right-click to select paste (or simultaneously press CTRL-P). You just copy-pasted your pre-typed letter into the box. Voila! ;-)
    7. Click "Submit". If the website goofs up, just re-enter the information and copy-paste again.
    8. If you don’t hear anything back from the newspaper in 2-3 days, be sure to call to verify they received the letter. (When you call and they're holding the phone, plus the letter you submitted, the chances are higher that your letter will be published.)
    9. E-mail ABC leaders after you submit your letter, so we can all squeal and jump and be watching for your letter in your local paper, and be ready to post a comment to support you.
    10. Also, as soon as anyone notices a letter to the editor about CPMs in the paper, please highlight the URL at the top and "paste" it into an email to send to ABC leaders. We will be ready to click the link and comment, and we will all copy-paste the URL into personal emails to our legislators.

  6. Get a sign-in name to comment online to a newspaper letter: Now would be a perfect time to get a "Log-in" name for your local paper and other Alabama papers, so you will be ready to post a comment every time a CPM Letter gets published. Simply scan the home page for "Forums" or "Register". When you click on "Register", you will be asked for your email address and other limited information. Some papers will assign you a password that will be sent to your email box. You will then need to highlight-copy the password and paste it into the password field to log in. You can then go to "Account Settings"/"Change Password", where you will be able to change the password to something you can remember or write down on a paper near your computer. This way, when a Letter to the Editor is published and you want to comment online, all you will have to do is log in and enter your password. Then click on the "Comment" button right next to the published letter, and you're set.

  7. One individual (or one letter) can make a difference, but all of us working together can make a huge impact. We are it…every last one of us. If Alabama is going to license CPMs, it will be because of persistent, organized efforts. So please, if you are having a tough time trying to find where to publish a Letter to the Editor online for your local newspaper, or if you need help writing a letter, or figuring out how to sign in or log in to comment, just reach out to the ABC leaders. We are a team! We will figure it out and walk anyone through the process. Together let’s keep a steady stream of letters being sent to the papers and keep generating all those positive comments in response.

  8. Quick Summary:
    1. Get a “Log-in” name and password now for local papers so that you will be ready to comment when a birth-related article or letter is published.
    2. Write Letters to the Editor to educate the public and legislators about our cause.
    3. Comment on Letters to the Editor and other articles relating to birth.
    4. Send links to these letters and comments to your legislators.

Next ---> Lesson #9 - Making the most of your visit to the Capitol
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