Just having the law in support of breastfeeding mothers is going to make a huge difference. I actually think it may help to increase the number of women who breastfeed and may extend the time woman choose to feed their children. Having the law on our side may help reduce some of the stigma of breastfeeding. I have known several woman who have stopped breastfeeding because of the uncomfortable stares that have gotten while feeding in public.
No, the law will not stop the stares not right away. But it will make people realize that breastfeeding is a right and that you can't discriminate against people who breastfeed, just as you can't discriminate against people who are diabetic or disabled, and that you have to make accommodations to help them.
A law was passed a few years ago in Minnesota that requires employers to allow breastfeeding mothers additional break time to pump and they have to provide a private area for pumping and that area cannot be the bathroom. This was another remarkable step in the right direction.
Seeing these changes makes me feel so empowered. Woman speaking out CAN make a difference for their families and their children. And these laws will help not only them, but also other woman and families in the future.
I am SO going to go put on my pink lactivist T-shirt right now!
"It's not about my right to breastfeed, it's about my child's right to eat!" So true!
7 comments:
Whoo hoo! That's wonderful! Massachusetts finally passed a law last year protecting a woman's right to nurse her child in public, but there's no law on the books that protects the rights of woring mothers who pump. When I was working after my maternity leave ended, I had to pump in the bathroom, and had to fight every. single. day. to get coverage so I could duck out of my classroom long enough to pump.
I think it's wonderful that individual states are finally doing more for breastfeeding mothers!
Love that shirt!
We actually have fabulous laws here in NC about breastfeeding. Anywhere you have a legal right to be, you have a legal right to breastfeed. If it makes someone uncomfortable, say- in a restaurant, they cannot ask you to move, though they can move the person who complained about it.
It definitely gave me a lot more confidence to nurse in publice, knowing my rights.
It makes me insane that people think they have the right to discriminate against people breast-feeding.
love the shirt. so true. i have never let it stop me though. i don't let it all hang out ... i'm discreet. but i figure ... most people would rather have me quietly breastfeeding my baby than have him scream at the top of lungs because i'm denying him opportunity to eat. just my thoughts ... but it's nice to have laws moving towards providing rights in writing.
Every state needs this law. I don't understand why people get so worked up when they see women using their tatas for the express purpose in which we have them - to nurture life!
I love that term lactivist!!! I'm glad they passed that law and I'd whip out a lactating boobie to celebrate if I had one!
It definitely gave me a lot more confidence to nurse in publice, knowing my rights.
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