The Hill: Call the midwife—but not if you live in Georgia

Debbie Pulley is a midwife, but if she told you that, the Georgia Board of Nursing would fine her $500.

That’s because the board has barred the use of the title “midwife” by anyone who doesn’t hold a nursing license—even people like Pulley, who has spent the past 40 years delivering more than 1,000 babies.

In their op-ed for The Hill, Jim Manley and Caleb Trotter tell us how Debbie’s fighting for her First Amendment right to describe herself honestly.

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Issues & Insights: How hard would you fight to get the best education for your kids?

How far would you go to get the best education possible for your child? How hard would you fight?
 
At Issues & Insights, PLF President and CEO Steven D. Anderson tells us about Connecticut parents who are prepared to find out—they’re challenging the state’s discriminatory education policies that lock minority children out of the state’s top-flight magnet schools.

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Freelance journalists sue over California’s new contracting law

Two of the largest industry groups for freelance writers and journalists are fighting for their members’ rights and livelihoods in a federal lawsuit filed this week. At issue is Assembly Bill 5, California’s new rules that dictate how businesses can use contractors.

AB 5 is full of unfair exemptions and carveouts that treat freelance journalists differently from other professions that engage in speech. Writers and photographers who exceed 35 pieces of content per year must become employees. Journalists who record audio or video instantly lose their ability to work independently. Freelancers lose their autonomy and publishers face higher costs.

The law takes effect January 1 but has already jeopardized the careers of many members of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Press Photographers Association.

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