Midwife For Pennsylvania Amish Wins Reversal of Charges Against Her

In Goslin v. State Board of Medicine, (PA Commn. Ct., May 23, 2008), a Pennsylvania appellate court has reverse an order issued by the State Board of Medicine that had barred midwife Diane Goslin from continuing to practice as a midwife and had imposed a civil monetary penalty. Goslin has delivered babies for the Amish community for 24 years, but has never obtained a license because she is not a registered nurse as required by state law. (See prior posting.) The Commonwealth Court held that the practice of midwifery is not the practice of medicine. In connection with charges that Goslin violated the state's regulation of midwives, the court held that Goslin did not receive adequate notice of the charges being brought against her. The Medical Board charged her under statutory provisions relating to nurse-midwives, while in fact she was being charged under a different provision of law prohibiting the practice of midwifery without a state certificate by those who are not registered nurses. Yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on the decision pointed out that the court left undecided whether non-nurses can still obtain certificates to practice as midwives in Pennsylvania.