A nationally prominent midwife is suing Georgia authorities, claiming they’re engaged in regulatory overreach as they violate her First Amendment rights by punishing her for accurately calling herself a midwife.
Debbie Pulley, who helped found the Georgia Midwifery Association, which established standards of care for midwives, filed a lawsuit Dec. 11 in federal court in Atlanta against the Georgia Board of Nursing after a regulatory change made it unlawful for midwives to identify themselves as such unless they possess nursing credentials. A midwife is a trained health care professional who attends at births and who works with women during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum phase.
