Every year during the week of August 1st to 7th signifies World Breastfeeding Week that is celebrated in more than 170 countries by encouraging breastfeeding, improving the health of babies, and protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding worldwide. In 2012, this week commemorated the 20th year of the Innocenti Declaration made by WHO and UNICEF. For the last five years, the Center of Disease Control issued its annual Breastfeeding Report Card – United States, 2012, which reviews the status of breastfeeding issues in the United States. The report card provided national and individual state percentages for eleven different categories showing six states that have child care regulation that supports onsite breastfeeding, which are: Arizona, California, Delaware, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Vermont. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, states “More and more mothers are breastfeeding every year... every mother in our nation deserves information, guidance, and support with this decision from her family and friends, the community where she lives, the health professionals on whom she relies, and her employer.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures’ section on Breastfeeding Laws, 45 states including the District of Columbia (DC) and the Virgin Islands (VI) have laws that specifically allow women to breastfeed in any public or private location. Twenty-eight states together with DC and VI exempt breastfeeding from public indecency laws. Whereas, 24 states including DC and Puerto Rico have laws related to breastfeeding in the workplace and 20 states plus Puerto Rico exempt breastfeeding mothers from jury duty as well as several states and territories have unique laws related to breastfeeding.
In April 2012, Seattle City Council (WA) took another step in clarifying public policy currently in existence by making it illegal for businesses and others to ask mothers to stop breastfeeding, to cover up or move to a different location, according to news story release on KPLU.org. In a unanimous council vote, it amended the existing city ordinance while strengthens state law as seen in Washington State Human Rights Commission’s public accommodation flyer.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Reconciliation Act of 2010 has amended the Fair Labor Standards Act, Section 427 “to require an employer to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express milk. The employer is not required to compensate an employee receiving reasonable break time for any work time spent for such purpose. The employer must also provide a place, other than a bathroom, for the employee to express breast milk. If these requirements impose undue hardship, an employer that employs fewer than 50 employees is not subject to these requirements. The federal requirements shall not preempt a state law that provides greater protections to employees.” In addition, the proposed legislation known as Breastfeeding Protection Act (HR 2758/S1463) would expand coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act to include “salaried office workers and to ensure that women cannot be fired for breastfeeding or discriminated against for expressing milk in the workplace.” U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney from New York, who is one of the bill’s sponsors, addressed this issue in a March 2012 presentation. “Women cannot be discriminated against or fired for breastfeeding or pumping breast milk during breaks or lunch. In addition employers who establish special rooms for breastfeeding mothers or that rent lactation-related equipment are provided tax breaks,” said Representative Maloney.
Even though breastfeeding in public is protected by state laws in all but one state - West Virginia, breastfeeding is recognized worldwide as a natural, healthy choice with proven benefits for mothers and babies, yet a cause for controversy continues.
Susanne L Woodford, Freelance Writer