WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Nurse midwives wouldn’t need a doctor’s oversight for routine deliveries under a bill that passed the Kansas House.

The Wichita Eagle  reports that the bill advanced Monday on a voice vote. Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, says the nurse midwives would be allowed to prescribe medicines, order diagnostic tests and perform birth procedures such as episiotomies.

The Board of Healing Arts would directly regulate them.

The bill would open the door to independent practice by about 85 certified nurse midwives statewide. The majority already work in centers where they have collaborative agreements with doctors.

Republican Rep. Barbara Bollier says she usually supports doctor oversight over the practice of medicine. But the retired physician from Mission Hills says it’s not needed in the case of routine births.