Breastfeeding Advocates Sending Nationwide Message to Applebee’s

At last check, breastfeeding advocates plan to rally at 80 Applebee’s locations in 37 states [Edited: By late Friday, September 7, the count is up to 89 locations in 39 states]! One person who won’t be attending, though? Brooke Ryan, the woman involved in the original incident. She appreciates the support and is pleased the nurse-ins are going forward, but she will not attend the Lexington, KY nurse-in due to “personal reasons.” The Lexington Herald-Leader has done a good job of keeping on top of the story, and last night the paper ran this statement from Ryan:

I said if we could resolve this before Saturday we could turn the nationwide nurse-in into a celebration of thanks in which nursing mothers could patronize instead of protest Applebee’s. The response I received from a Thomas and King representative directed me to the statement in (Thursday’s) Herald-Leader. After reading the statement, it has become apparent to me that Thomas and King refuses to accept any corporate responsibility for their restaurant violating the law, nor to make any acknowledgment of wrongdoing.

Too bad Thomas and King did not jump at the chance to make good on this issue. Lucky for Thomas and King that Ryan insists she does not intend to pursue legal action against the restaurant in question.

I have updated the Google Map of all the nurse-in sites to reflect the growing number of participants.