Remember back in March when I wrote to Dear Abby about the fact that A Bathroom is Not a Pumping Room? My response was not selected for printing but today’s Dear Abby column is entirely dedicated to other helpful replies: Employer Obliged to Give New Mom a Private Space.

Photo by Sanja Gjenero

I especially liked that the responses included a reference to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services information booklet: “A Business Case for Breastfeeding: Steps for Creating a Breastfeeding Friendly Worksite: Easy Steps to Supporting Breastfeeding Employees.” (PDF Download).

I must be on a breastfeeding letter-writing kick because last night I spent three hours writing emails to every state breastfeeding coalition and 45 breastfeeding bloggers to make sure they’re aware of some of the available tools to support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009, such as the super easy fill-in form online to ask state representatives and senators to co-sponsor the bill, and the Facebook group to spread the word about the bill. Back to my regular programming tomorrow, I promise, because I’m due to update about how breastfeeding is going with my baby who just turned 11 months old!

Calling all United States readers! It only takes 60 seconds to use this easy tool from the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) to ask your representatives and senators to co-sponsor the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009. Simply type in your name and address including zip code+4 and the USBC does the rest! Here are more details in an email you can forward to ask your friends to use the tool as well. Read more

Whether or not you live in the United States, please take a moment to join the Facebook group I created in support of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009.

Facebook group

This is the fifth time this bill has been up for consideration in Congress and it needs a strong show of support for passage in this 111th Congress! Please help spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, and any breastfeeding groups to which you belong! If you live in the United States, please consider writing to your representatives and senators to ask them to co-sponsor the bill. We need a groundswell of support to get this legislation passed!

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 was introduced on June 11, 2009. Now is the time to take action to support HR2819 / S1244 by writing to your state representatives and senators to ask them to co-sponsor the bill. In addition to the original sponsors Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York and Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, 10 representatives and one senator co-sponsor the bill as of June 17, 2009: Reps. Capps, Olver, and Frank of Massachusetts, Reps. Roybal-Allard, Levin, and Meeks of New York, and Reps. Kaptur, Snyder, Schwartz, and Moran of Virginia, and Senator Gillibrand of New York.

You can look up the contact information for your representatives and senators and use the following sample letter or your own draft to write to your representatives and senators to ask them to co-sponsor the Breastfeeding Promotion Act (HR2819 / S1244). I have adapted this sample letter from the advocacy kit provided by the District of Columbia Breastfeeding Coalition for the 2007 Act. Read more

Nursing mothers have Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) to thank for her tireless attempts to see a Breastfeeding Promotion Act passed in Congress. Last Thursday Representative Maloney and Senator Jeff Merkley announced the introduction of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 (H.R. 2819 / S. 1244).

Representative Maloney announcing the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009

Incredibly, this is the fifth time the Act has been up for consideration. Representative Maloney spoke to a crowd of nursing mothers on Capitol Hill:

This bill is needed now more than ever, as moms head back to work earlier than ever during this recession. I hope that with Senator Merkley’s good efforts, we can get this bill to the President.

You can see the full text of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 (H.R. Bill 2819) online. Representative Maloney summarizes it as follows:

This bill will bring breastfeeding mothers under the protection of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, require employers with over 50 employees to provide a private space and unpaid time off during the workday for mothers to express milk, and sets standards for breast pump manufacture. It also provides for tax incentives for employers that establish private lactation areas in the workplace and tax credits for nursing mothers.

Senator Merkley, who championed a workplace breastfeeding bill in Oregon two years ago, is now behind legislation at the federal level.

It’s not every day we have the opportunity to enact legislation that is so clearly a win-win for families and our nation. Making it easier for moms to breastfeed means we have healthier babies, stronger families and happier workers

Kudos to Senator Merkley for being the first congressperson to sponsor the bill in the Senate!

What can you do to see that the fifth time is the charm? Write to your state’s elected officials in Congress and urge them to support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 (HR 2819)!

Sadly, breastfeeding can become an issue in divorce, custody and visitation rights cases. With hard feelings on both sides, parents have difficulty coming to agreement on breastfeeding and custody and visitation arrangements that are in the best interests of the nursling. I recently received this comment and question:

Is there a Colorado law that explicitly states that it is a mother’s legal right to breastfeed? The father of my daughter’s baby (7 months), and his attorney, are trying to force my daughter to wean the child and get her to bottle feed. This is so the father can gain more freedom with visitations. Any suggestions on where I can find this information for my daughter to fight this issue? Thanks in advance for your response.

While I am a former attorney (of tax law), I cannot offer legal advice in this matter. As a breastfeeding counselor I am happy to point in the right direction and offer information resources for you and your daughter’s attorney to utilize in this dispute. Read more

Excellent news on the breastfeeding legislation front as today Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law a breastfeeding civil rights bill. House Bill 1596 (PDF) amends the state anti-discrimination statutes RCW 49.60.030 and 2007 c 187 s 3 to add the following civil right:

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

Photo by Jason Anfinsen

The law goes into effect in late July, 90 days after today. It adds on to the existing Washington laws that exempt breastfeeding and expressing breast milk from indecent exposure, and allow employers to call themselves “infant-friendly” if they meet certain requirements.

This is the kind of breastfeeding law I like to see in place because it creates an actionable right. Richard Roesler of the Spokesman-Review noted:

Complaints would be investigated by the state Human Rights Commission. Based on results involving similar laws in Vermont and Hawaii, the commission estimates that it will field 4-5 complaints a year.

The number of complaints per year surprises me. Come to think of it, I am not sure whether I expected the number of complaints to be lower or higher. I suppose as the law goes into effect, I would like to see a higher number of complaints as breastfeeding women become aware of and exercise their rights. Then I would like to see the number of complaints go down as businesses come into compliance with the law.

Today’s Dear Abby column “New Mom Reluctantly Uses Bathroom as Pumping Station” missed a fabulous opportunity to educate breastfeeding women and their employers about pumping at work. Here’s the response I will be submitting to columnist Abigail Van Buren.

Photo by Bradley Gee

DEAR ABBY:

You are absolutely right to tell “PRIVACY PLEASE” not to be ashamed of pumping at work. I hope you take it one step further and let her and your readers know that California law requires an employer to make reasonable efforts to provide a location other than a toilet stall for the employee to express milk in private (California Labor Code Sections 1030-1033). An employer can be fined $100 for every violation of the law!

Please encourage all breastfeeding mothers and all employers to check the 50 State Summary of Breastfeeding Laws compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/breast50.htm. Even if state law does not require employers to provide a place to pump, it’s an excellent business practice to do so! Not only does providing a pumping room boost employee morale and company loyalty, but breastfeeding also reduces healthcare costs for mother and child and results in fewer work absences due to a parent having to care for a sick child.

The United States Breastfeeding Committee reports that employers save $3 for every $1 invested in breastfeeding support! The Committee provides an excellent resource on Workplace Breastfeeding Support which details the components of adequate, expanded, and comprehensive breastfeeding programs for the workplace. I hope mothers print out the resource and take it to their employers as a way to open the discussion about sanitary and private options for a pumping room.

Sincerely,
Angela White, volunteer breastfeeding counselor and breastfeeding blogger at Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Here is a reminder that the new Rhode Island law protecting breastfeeding in public takes effect today, March 1, 2009. This law is in addition to the existing Rhode Island laws excluding breastfeeding mothers from disorderly conduct laws, and requiring employers to provide a safe, private place to breastfeed or pump.

The entire text of the enacted bill reads:

23-13.5-1. Breastfeeding in public places. – A woman may feed her child by bottle or breast in any place open to the public.

23-13.5-2. Remedies. – In any civil action alleging a violation of this chapter, the court may:

(1) Afford injunctive relief against any person, entity or public accommodation that commits or proposes to commit a violation of this chapter; and

(2) Award compensatory damages and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on March 1, 2009.

There are several breastfeeding bills making their way through the state legislatures at the moment. Here I discuss three such bills that illustrate how the text of each bill makes a huge difference in the quality and enforceability of the breastfeeding protection. Breastfeeding advocates in Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Washington state need to follow the legislation closely to ensure appropriate measures are passed.

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.