Wisconsin

On February 24, 2009, the Wisconsin Senate passed the Right to Breastfeed Act (SB 16). If it becomes law, it would affirm a woman’s right to breastfeed in any public or private location where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, and would provide a penalty of up to $200 for interfering with that right. The organization Wisconsin Family Action had been pushing for the senators to vote against the bill or to add a “modesty amendment” requiring mothers “to be discreet (e.g. use a blanket or a towel) to preserve modesty.” A law requiring women to be discreet or modest would be a setback for breastfeeding women! Those terms are terribly subjective and would make nursing women feel less protected rather than more! Fortunately the Senate Amendment 1 that passed was not a modesty clause. Here is the text with the original line struck through and the amendment added:

253.16 Right to breast−feed. A mother may breast−feed her child in any public or private location where the mother is otherwise authorized to be. No person may interfere with the right of a mother to breast−feed her child as provided in this may prohibit a mother from breast−feeding her child as provided in this section.

I would rather have seen the bill passed as originally written, because the amended bill appears to open the door for someone to ask a mother to cover up: “I wasn’t prohibiting her from breastfeeding, I just asked her to cover up or move to a different location!”

Governor Jim Doyle has said he will sign the bill into law if it passes the Assembly. Currently it has been referred to the Assembly committee on Public Safety. I hope Wisconsin mothers and other breastfeeding advocates keep a close eye on this bill and urge the members of the Assembly to pass the bill as originally written, or at least pass the current version without any modesty amendment!

North Dakota

Unfortunately the North Dakota Senate passed a bill with a modesty clause on February 18. The relevant portion of Senate Bill 2344 says:

Right to breastfeed. If the woman acts in a discreet and modest manner, a woman may breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be.

Here’s my really insightful one-word analysis of this text: YIKES! Who gets to decide what would be “discreet” and “modest”? This bill isn’t a “right to breastfeed” it’s a “right for people to police breastfeeding mothers”! It screams for people to interfere with breastfeeding. “Excuse me ma’am, but you’re not being discreet according to my standards and I want you to put a blanket over yourself and your baby or get out of here!”

The bill now goes to the House. North Dakotans need to contact their legislators and urge them to pass the bill without the modesty clause. North Dakota is one of four states without breastfeeding legislation on the books, but it would be better to remain one of those four states than to pass the bill as it stands! There is a Facebook group “Got Mom’s Milk? in North Dakota” that discusses the legislation and keeps track of some of the contacts with state legislators.

Washington

Washington state is also contemplating a bill to protect breastfeeding. House Bill 1596 treats breastfeeding as a civil right:

(g) the right of a mother to breastfeed her child in any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement.

Now that’s more like it! It’s a strong bill that would create an enforceable right, unlike many other breastfeeding laws. Under such a law, if a woman were a victim of discrimination for breastfeeding, she could file a civil action to enjoin further discrimination and recover damages and attorney’s fees.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

The New Mexico legislation to support working mothers received unanimous approval by the House Labor and Human Resources committee hearing last Tuesday and now faces review by the Consumer and Public Affairs Committee.

South Carolina

After controversial child custody disputes in the state, the South Carolina Breastfeeding Action Committee is pushing to introduce legislation that would allow a breastfeeding mother custody of her child unless the child is in danger. Three states currently allow breastfeeding to be taken into consideration in custody decisions: Maine, Michigan and Utah.

Wisconsin

The “Right to Breastfeed Act” has been introduced in the Wisconsin state legislature by Senator Fred Risser and Representative Sheldon Wasserman. It would allow a mother to breastfeed in any public or private location where the mother is otherwise authorized to be. Much like local legislation recently passed in Wisconsin on the city and county level, the bill would prohibit interfering with a breastfeeding woman and provide a fine of up to $200. Advocates are hopeful that Senate Bill 30 will move swiftly and be received positively now that Risser is president of the state Senate.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

[N]o person shall interfere with a mother breast-feeding her child or expressing breast milk within any public accommodation where the mother would otherwise be authorized to be….”

The state law in Wisconsin already protects breastfeeding in public by exempting breastfeeding from the criminal statutes, but this ordinance provides some consequences for anyone who interferes with a mother exercising her right to breastfeed or pump. Anyone who is arrested for harassing a breastfeeding mother may face a fine of $10 to $100. People who do not pay the fine may be sentenced up to 30 days in jail (as is the law for non-payment of any other type of fine).

One news article mentions that local police officers are concerned about enforceability of the new law. Verbal harassment of nursing mothers might fall under protections for free speech, making the law unenforceable in that case. Novak, Bill. “Breast-feeding Protected by New Ordinance.” The Capital Times. Jan. 5, 2007. Certainly the law is going to make people think twice about asking a mother to leave a restaurant or a movie theater (as happened to a woman in Texas).

The law applies to any place under county jurisdiction, which includes “the airport, the zoo or any stores or restaurants in unincorporated areas” according to the Wisconsin State Journal. DeFour, Matthew. “Law to Protect Nursing Women.” Wisconsin State Journal. Jan. 4, 2007.

I think this is wonderful news and I commend Supervisor Carousel Bayrd (Madison), a nursing mother herself, for sponsoring the ordinance. Watch for news of a similar ordinance to be passed by the Madison City Council.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3