All Roll Calls
Yes: 135 • No: 139
PennsylvaniaSB 5072025-2026 Regular SessionSenate
An Act amending the act of December 20, 1985 (P.L.457, No.112), entitled "An act relating to the right to practice medicine and surgery and the right to practice medically related acts; reestablishing . . . the State Board of Medical Education and Licensure as the State Board of Medicine and providing for its composition, powers and duties; providing for the issuance of licenses and certificates and the suspension and revocation of licenses and certificates; provided penalties; and making repeals," further providing for definitions, for midwifery and for nurse-midwife license; and providing for certified midwife license.
Sponsored By: Rosemary M. Brown (Republican)
Signed by Governor
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 4 mixed.
Independent midwife patients get emergency plans
Both types of licensed midwives must give spoken and written disclosures when they work outside covered facilities and qualifying physician groups. They must provide this information at the start of the professional relationship. Disclosures identify the midwife, patient, and any primary care provider, and explain an individual emergency plan. The plan includes transport arrangements, named hospitals for emergency and nonemergency transfers, backup physician or care contacts, and affiliated facility networks. When a services agreement is made, the patient must sign and date the disclosure form for the medical record.
Midwife patients get care coordination safeguards
In covered institutional or group settings with a relevant-specialty physician, both types of licensed midwives must identify departures from normal care. They must consult, collaborate with, or refer to physicians as the patient’s health requires. During physician collaboration, midwives must keep each patient’s medical record and transfer it when care moves. Midwives remain solely responsible for their services; consultation alone does not create a physician-patient or other legal relationship.
Midwives gain addiction treatment roles with limits
Nurse-midwives working with a physician or physician group prescribing opioid use disorder treatment can provide FDA-approved treatment medicines. These include buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone, subject to federal law. Nurse-midwives working with physicians can also perform and sign the initial methadone treatment assessment under federal and state rules. Only a physician can order methadone treatment.
Midwives gain drug authority with limits
Certified midwives with a master’s degree or substantial equivalent and national certification can prescribe and provide prescription drugs, including Schedules II–V. Their authority also covers devices, vaccines, lab tests, and other care consistent with their education, certification, and collaboration or facility framework. They need 45 hours of advanced pharmacology coursework and 16 pharmacology education hours every two-year renewal cycle. Regulations set the starting license period for 30 total education hours every two years; first-time Pennsylvania licensees are exempt for their first renewal period. For both licensed groups, controlled drugs are limited to women’s acute pain, opioid use disorder treatment, or primary gynecologic conditions. Schedule II acute-pain supplies are limited to 72 hours unless a collaborating physician approves an extension. Schedule III and IV prescriptions are limited to 30 days, with physician approval required for refills. Psychotropic drugs require prior physician consultation unless regulations allow otherwise; collaboration agreements must identify allowed drug categories and those needing physician involvement.
Midwives get group options and oversight rules
Nurse-midwives and certified midwives outside covered facilities and qualifying physician groups need a written agreement with a physician or physician group. Collaborating physicians or groups must hold hospital privileges in the specialty covered by their services. Midwives employed by health systems, hospitals, or licensed birth centers, or practicing in qualifying groups, must maintain clinical staff privileges. They must follow the setting’s quality-improvement, consultation, collaboration, referral, credentialing, and supervision rules, with facility policies approved by the Department of Health. Qualifying groups must include at least one physician in the specialty of care provided.
New license and standards for certified midwives
The law takes effect 60 days after enactment and creates a Pennsylvania certified midwife license while keeping nurse-midwife licenses. Applicants must complete an academic and clinical program approved by the State Board of Medicine or a board-recognized accreditor. The Board sets exam, licensing, and practice rules within two years after the law takes effect. Both licensed groups can use “midwife” and related abbreviations; certified midwives face the medical-liability rules that cover certified nurse-midwives. The law neither licenses nor regulates unlicensed birth workers, including lay and direct-entry midwives, and neither authorizes nor prohibits their practice.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Rosemary M. Brown
Republican • Senate
Cosponsors
Amanda M. Cappelletti
Democratic • Senate
Arthur L Haywood III
Democratic • Senate
Arvind Venkat
Democratic • House
Carolyn T. Comitta
Democratic • Senate
Elder A. Vogel Jr.
Republican • Senate
Jay Costa
Democratic • Senate
Joe Picozzi
Republican • Senate
Judith L. Schwank
Democratic • Senate
Judy Ward
Republican • Senate
Katie J. Muth
Democratic • Senate
Lisa Baker
Republican • Senate
Lisa M. Boscola
Democratic • Senate
Lynda Schlegel Culver
Republican • Senate
Nick Pisciottano
Democratic • Senate
Nikil Saval
Democratic • Senate
Tracy Pennycuick
Republican • Senate
Wayne D. Fontana
Democratic • Senate
Roll Call Votes
committee vote • 10/28/2025
26 0
Yes: 26 • No: 0
Senate vote • 10/21/2025
Senate Bill 507 PN1158 A01930, BROOKS Amendment No. A-1930
Yes: 6 • No: 44
Senate vote • 10/21/2025
Senate Bill 507 PN1158 A01854, BROOKS Amendment No. A-1854
Yes: 5 • No: 45
Senate vote • 10/21/2025
Senate Bill 507 PN1158 A01930, Final Passage
Yes: 49 • No: 1
Senate vote • 10/21/2025
Senate Bill 507 PN1158 A01852, BROOKS Amendment No. A-1852
Yes: 2 • No: 48
committee vote • 10/6/2025
20 0
Yes: 20 • No: 0
committee vote • 9/10/2025
13 1
Yes: 13 • No: 1
committee vote • 9/10/2025
14 0
Yes: 14 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Act No. 14 of 2026
5/6/2026GovernorApproved by the Governor
5/6/2026GovernorPresented to the Governor
5/5/2026HouseSigned in House
5/5/2026HouseSigned in Senate
5/4/2026HouseThird consideration and final passage (197-4)
4/29/2026HouseRe-reported as committed
4/29/2026HouseRe-referred to Appropriations
4/28/2026HouseSecond consideration
4/28/2026HouseRemoved from table
4/27/2026HouseLaid on the table
10/28/2025HouseFirst consideration
10/28/2025HouseReported as committed
10/28/2025HouseReferred to Professional Licensure
10/22/2025HouseThird consideration and final passage (49-1)
10/21/2025SenateRe-reported as committed
10/6/2025SenateRe-referred to Appropriations
10/6/2025SenateSecond consideration
10/6/2025SenateFirst consideration
9/10/2025SenateReported as amended
9/10/2025SenateReferred to Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure
3/21/2025Senate
Bill Text
PN 1158
9/10/2025
PN 456
3/21/2025
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