ATLANTA — The Supreme Court of Georgia has decided to do away with a state law requiring lactation consultants to be licensed.
The Court decided that the Georgia Lactation Consultant Practice Act is unconstitutional. Under the act, lactation consultants could only be paid for their services if they received a state license, according to a document from the Supreme Court of Georgia.
In order to do so, consultants had to get a certification from the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), the document said.
Although the act was designed to “regulate and require licensing” for lactation consultants, many consultants opposed the act, including those with Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, one of the plaintiffs in the case.
ROSE, a nonprofit dedicated to providing breastfeeding resources among Black mothers, claimed that the required licenses were costly and unnecessary in one online post. The post went on to say that the act prevented practitioners in minority and rural communities from helping their clients.
The group, along with certified lactation consultant Mary Jackson, filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
The plaintiffs claimed that the act violated worker's rights to due process and equal protection under the Georgia constitution, since the act would force consultants stop working in “their chosen profession,” the document said.
In addition to claiming that their rights were violated, the two plaintiffs argued that the act was unconstitutional on the grounds that there’s “no evidence that non-IBCLC providers and services have ever harmed the public,” the document added.
After hearing both sides, the court sided with Jackson and ROSE, deeming the act unconstitutional because it violates the right for providers to “pursue a lawful occupation free from unreasonable government interference,” according to the document.
Following the decision, non-licensed lactation consultants are now allowed to provide services without an IBCLC, which was the case prior to the passing of the act in 2016.
ROSE took to Facebook to celebrate the court's decision, calling it a "victory for families."
