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Homeopathy Association, please please
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Holding the doors open for
homeopathy - Health Freedom
Legislation
After
decades of near extinction in
the U.S., the use of homeopathy
began to grow again during the
1970s. Bringing the science and
art of homeopathy into the 21st
century is an evolutionary
process. How to make homeopathy
a viable health care option,
accessible to all, is a topic
that has been considered by many
thoughtful people.
Today,
homeopathy is practiced widely,
even in states where it is not
regulated or legal, and covered
under some medical licenses,
most notably ND's. But this is
not enough to create a unified
homeopathic profession. In order
for homeopathy to flourish, we
must have clear pathways for
legal practice.
In the
1970s the Council on Homeopathic
Education was formed to ensure
consistent educational
standards. In the early 1990s,
the Council for Homeopathic
Certification was formed to set
the standard for recognition of
basic competence for
practitioners of Classical
Homeopathy. However, each state
has its own laws regarding
healing practices. Homeopathy is
not currently licensed or
regulated by Washington State,
and its
regulation varies throughout all
states.
The
general consensus in the
homeopathic community is that a
first step to keeping homeopathy
available is to work with Health
Freedom legislation. This
legislation, passed in seven
states, provides a safe
harbor exemption, which
allows independent healthcare
practitioners who do no harm to
practice without fear of
prosecution from practicing
healthcare. The law contains
disclosure provisions for
protecting the public, which
help ensure that the public is
well informed, and it prohibits
certain conduct. It contains
disciplinary provisions to
remedy violations.
The
National Health Freedom
Coalition was thrilled to
announce that New Mexico passed
Health Freedom legislation this
year, following the example of
six other states: Minnesota,
California, Rhode Island, Idaho,
Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The
2007 resolution from the New
Mexico Legislature that set the
wheels in motion states:
New Mexico has a long history
of cultural healers . . . and
healing traditions, including
plant medicines and foods,
prayer, ceremony and song, and
these traditions must be
shared with the current
generation and preserved by
future generations;
[And in] New Mexico, there are
also well-accepted complementary
and alternative health care
therapies that have
historically been practiced
by persons who are not licensed
or regulated by the state,
including naturopathy,
homeopathy, meditation,
mind-body healing practices,
traditional eastern practices
such as qi gong and ayurveda,
nutrition and lifestyle change,
energy therapies, aromatherapy,
folk remedies, anthroposophy,
herbal therapy and healing
practices using heat, cold,
water, light and sound; and . .
. the knowledge and
information born from those
practices is important.
In September, there was a
meeting with two senators in our
own Washington State, the
attorney for the National Health
Freedom Coalition who has helped
with the passage of this
legislation in several states,
the Democratic Caucus Political
Policy Director, an attorney who
has worked with drafting health
freedom legislation and three
people who have worked on Health
Freedom legislation in our
state. Meeting with these
senators who are on the Health
Committee was key because they
had been reluctant even to
consider the legislation
previously. When they learned
that the bill had passed in New
Mexico and they began to see how
much money is being spent in our
state on so-called “alternative”
health care, they seemed to have
a change of heart. A committee
to draft legislation for this
year’s legislation session was
formed. However, there is
currently no organized effort to
work systematically toward the
passage of a Health Freedom Bill
here.
In other
states, there have been
effective grass roots efforts
that have paid off in the
passage of the bill. So…Are you
an organizer? Are you
passionate about wanting options
available in health care?
Working for Health Freedom is an
exciting opportunity to make a
difference in our state! The
activities will entail calling
people, motivating people,
inviting people to hearings, and
letting legislators know about
your healing experiences,
personal and professional, and
why you want homeopathy to be
available in our state. Please
let us know if you can help with
this important task by sending
an
, and we’ll let you how you can
join us in getting involved!
Patricia
Kay, MA, CCH |
