Midwife's fine is suspended

HARRISBURG - A Pennsylvania appeals court has thrown out, at least temporarily, an $11,000 fine against an unlicensed midwife who served Lancaster's Amish community, but the judge said she probably would have to stop delivering babies.

In a ruling distributed yesterday, Commonwealth Court Judge James Gardner Colins called the state medical board's fine against Diane Goslin "unconscionable" and "repugnant to traditional concepts of justice."

Goslin is challenging a board ruling that she must stop practicing midwifery because she is unlicensed. Colins said the board cannot attempt to collect a fine until that legal challenge is decided, and he suggested the board impose lower fines for people who act in good faith.

"There is nothing in the record to indicate [she] has been providing these services in anything less than an exemplary fashion," Colins wrote.

Colins, however, warned Goslin that she probably would not succeed in overturning the cease-and-desist order. He declined to suspend that order.

State law requires midwives to be registered nurses and operate under strict guidelines.

Goslin, 49, said yesterday that she hoped to win an appeal and return to midwifery. She has helped deliver more than 5,000 babies over more than 26 years.

"If the state does not rule in our favor, unfortunately the Amish families have said that they'll be having unattended births, which is obviously more of a risk to the public," she said.

Goslin faced civil sanctions from the state board after helping an Amish woman give birth at home two years ago. The infant died the next day, although Goslin said the death was unrelated to her services.

Colins said the board had never claimed that Goslin practiced in a negligent or dangerous manner or that her services had injured any patient.

Goslin, who lives near Strasburg in the heart of Lancaster County's Amish community, said her legal costs were already about $50,000. The Amish are organizing a fund-raising auction for her in Quarryville next month.

Cathy Ennis, a spokeswoman for the state Board of Medicine, said the board cannot rescind Goslin's fine. Commonwealth Court's final ruling on the appeal will determine the fine, she said.