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![handle is hein.sag/sagga0097 and id is 1 raw text is:
GEORGIAGV
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF LAW
40 1Af O 3L SQ A I'
Official Opinion 2018-1
January 24, 2018
To:
The Secretary of State
Re:
After July 1, 2018, only persons who are licensed as lactation consultants in Georgia or who meet
one of the Georgia Lactation Consultant Practice Act's exceptions to licensure may provide
lactation care and services as that term is defined by the Act.
You have requested my opinion regarding whether the Georgia Lactation Consultant Practice Act
(the Act) (O.C.G.A. §§ 43-22A-1 through 43-22A-13) will allow certified lactation counselors
(CLCs), who are not certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners
(IBLCE) and who are not otherwise exempt under the Act, to continue doing the work they have
been doing after the effective date of the Act, which is July 1, 2018.[1] Based upon my review of
the Act, I conclude that, after July 1, 2018, only persons who are licensed as lactation consultants
in Georgia or who meet one of the Act's exceptions to licensure may provide lactation care and
services as that term is defined by the Act. Accordingly, the Act prohibits any person, including a
CLC, who is not a licensed lactation consultant and who does not fall within one of the Act's
exceptions, from practicing the types of acts and services that the Act defines as lactation care and
services.
It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that 'when a statute contains clear and
unambiguous language, such language will be given its plain meaning and will be applied
accordingly.' McKinney v. Fuciarelli, 298 Ga. 873, 874 (2016) (quoting Opensided MRI of Atlanta
LLC v. Chandler, 287 Ga. 406, 407 (2010)). Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 43-22A-11, [o]n and after July
1, 2018, no person without a license as a lactation consultant issued pursuant to this chapter
shall use the title 'licensed lactation consultant' or 'licensed L.C.' or practice lactation care and
services . . . . This provision makes it unlawful to (1) use the title licensed lactation consultant or
licensed L.C. or (2) practice lactation care and services without a lactation consultant license.
To obtain a license to be a lactation consultant, in addition to meeting other requirements, the Act
requires that applicants must either meet the international education and clinical standards
established . . . by the IBLCE and [provide] proof of successful completion of the IBLCE](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagga0097&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)