These Can't Be Real Laws

Imagine my horror, when reviewing some of the day's pharma news for work, when I ran across this little gem. An article about the "controversy" of public breastfeeding as ... indecent exposure?

Now. Most people reading this know I didn't breastfeed. And you may or may have not breastfed, or even had a baby. And either way, certainly you, and me (in imaginary if-Aimee-did-breastfeed-world) may or may not care to do so in public.

But little would I have guessed that had we CHOSEN or NEEDED to feed our baby, say, on an airplane ride, we might be breaking the law depending on what state we're flying over.

Out of concern that not enough women are breast-feeding, a growing number of states are passing protective laws and policies. Today 38 states give women the explicit right to nurse in public, and 23 states exempt it from public-indecency laws.

How generous of 23 states to exempt breastfeeding mothers from Paris Hilton-esque stints in the clink! How supportive! How woman-centric! How 2007!

What kind of asinine trend is this that you practically can't buy a pregnancy test without reading a paragraph about the benefits of breastfeeding, but as a country, wee don't support it.

I don't want to say it's shoved down our throats, because that implies it's a bad thing. It IS a great thing. My personal opinion? New moms should probably try it or at least do some reading or attend a class and consider it. In any event, new moms who want to breastfeed should be supported in every way to make it workable for them.

And yet the stats don't support that.

Twelve states have laws addressing women's right to use a pump to express milk at work. And the governors of New Mexico and Oregon recently signed similar legislation, which gives moms (unpaid) lactation breaks and a clean and private area to pump (not just a bathroom stall).

WOW. New moms in TWELVE whole states returning to work after a scant six weeks home with their baby (can't even go there in this post) who have committed the extra time and energy to pump at work get rewarded with ... the privilege of being allowed to pump in a toilet without getting fired.

This may seem like an odd post. I didn't breastfeed so this didn't affect me. And I don't know anyone personally who's had what I presume is the horrible "I'm gonna go hang out in the pee pee place and prepare my baby's food" experience.

But I do have a good friend who had to nervously inquire whether she'd for sure have an office she could pump in. I do have a sister-in-law who had to figure out, while in an all-day business meeting, whether it's worse to discreetly excuse herself for 15 minutes and have the Men in the room actually suspect she had to pump (that she has BOOBS and a BABY that EATS) or explode all over the conference table.

I'm posting because I'm frustrated that it's not supported like it should be - systemically, fully, and as a respected part of raising healthy kids. And I'm posting because the offshoot that affects working moms - lactation rooms, and bosses and co-workers understanding about pumping breaks - shouldn't feel like a pipe dream you can only get if you work at left leaning, cutting edge companies like Google, or one of the top five on the Working Mother list.

I'm also posting because this whole situation seems so silly ... I just had to figure out what you all thought too ... ?