JEFFERSON CITY — Remember tocology? Midwives gained more authority in Missouri by slipping that obscure term into a health insurance bill in 2007.

Now, Rep. Mike Talboy, D-Kansas City, is trying to repeal the provision.

Talboy has introduced HB476, which would repeal a single sentence. That sentence allows people who hold “ministerial or tocological certification by an organization accredited by the National Organization for Competency Assurance” to provide services dealing with obstetrics.

Former Sen. John Loudon, R-Chesterfield, tucked that line into a bill to bypass a long-running filibuster orchestrated by the Missouri State Medical Association, which represents doctors. For years, Missouri had limited the practice of midwifery to certain specialized nurses, working in collaboration with doctors.

The doctors’ group says the current law makes it unclear who can offer obstetric services. Talboy said he hopes to broker a compromise between the doctors and midwives.

“I would like to bring them to the table and find what we can do moving forward, so mothers and children are protected,” he said. “I think there should be some safety requirements.”

In the past, those negotiations have broken down because the medical lobby demanded that midwives be regulated by the Board of Healing Arts, which is dominated by doctors. Under the doctors’ plan, an advisory board of midwives could only offer licensing suggestions