breastfeeding misinformation

Browsing through tumblr, I came upon this post. Just some random young'un, ranting about breastfeeding.

Nothing new. I see them often. Rants like Women shouldn't breastfeed in public! Who wants to see your tits? Not me! Cover up! And so on and so on.

This ranter goes on to make up some complete nonsense: Overall my stance is this, breastfeed all you like, but they make covers for public, and even then, it is a law to have an area for women to breastfeed in all public buildings (most of the time its just the bathroom,) ...

the boobs on the bus part II

Update on the Afrykan Moon breastfeeding on bus debacle:

Both the driver and the dispatcher were given suspensions. The female driver, who harassed Moon while she was attempting to breastfeed on the bus (which is her legal right) was given 5 days without pay, and the dispatcher was given 3 days with out pay.

Here's hoping that this will discourage others from denying mothers their legal rights!

breastfeeding cards

Check out these beautiful breastfeeding cards from Nursing Freedom!

Affirmations:

breastfeeding in public is not a crime

Posters part of the Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign in Ontario, Canada.

breastfeeding in georgia

How old is too old to breastfeed? When are you to old to breastfeed in public?

In Forest Park, Georgia, the city council decided that they had an answer- they passed an ordinance banning children over the age of two years old to breastfeed in public.

Why two? Is that when a child's intent turns from innocent and natural to lewd? Why not one? Or three?

No matter- after mass protest, the city overturned the law. As one woman says: "It doesn't matter what age the child is. It should be the mother's choice, or the child's choice."

Read more about it here.

breastfeeding laws

Overview of breastfeeding laws in the United States- taken from The National Conference of State Legislatures: 

• Forty-four states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands have laws that specifically allow women to breastfeed in any public or private location. (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.)
• Twenty-eight states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands exempt breastfeeding from public indecency laws. (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.)
• Twenty-four states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have laws related to breastfeeding in the workplace. (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.)
• Twelve states and Puerto Rico exempt breastfeeding mothers from jury duty. (California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia.)
• Five states and Puerto Rico have implemented or encouraged the development of a breastfeeding awareness education campaign. (California, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Vermont.)

Several states have unique laws related to breastfeeding. For instance,

• Virginia allows women to breastfeed on any land or property owned by the state. Puerto Rico requires shopping malls, airports, public service government centers and other select locations to have accessible areas designed for breastfeeding and diaper changing that are not bathrooms.
• At least two states have laws related to child care facilities and breastfeeding. Louisiana prohibits any child care facility from discriminating against breastfed babies. Mississippi requires licensed child care facilities to provide breastfeeding mothers with a sanitary place that is not a toilet stall to breastfeed their children or express milk, to provide a refrigerator to store expressed milk, to train staff in the safe and proper storage and handling of human milk, and to display breastfeeding promotion information to the clients of the facility.
• California requires the Department of Public Health to develop a training course of hospital policies and recommendations that promote exclusive breastfeeding and specify staff for whom this model training is appropriate. The recommendation is targeted at hospitals with patients who ranked in the lowest 25 percent of the state for exclusive breastfeeding rates.
• Maryland exempts the sale of tangible personal property that is manufactured for the purpose of initiating, supporting or sustaining breastfeeding from the sales and use tax.
• California, New York and Texas have laws related to the procurement, processing, distribution or use of human milk.
• New York created a Breastfeeding Mothers Bill of Rights, which is required to be posted in maternal health care facilities.
  Hmmmm... I think I want to move to Puerto Rico! Sun, beach, mountains, good food, and breastfeeding rooms for all. Sounds like heaven.