Sustainable Mothering » Breastfeeding in Public

Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding in Disaster

Jake — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:00:31 +0000

I saw this painful photograph in a museum in Los Alamos, New Mexico, birthplace of the bomb that the U.S. dropped on this woman and her children in Nagasaki, Japan. Karleen Gribble shared both this copy of the photo with me and this article about what happened to the mom and her children. Send to Facebook

Will Nebraska Finally Get A Public Breastfeeding Law? Will it Matter?

Jake — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:00:58 +0000

Only three U.S. states have no public breastfeeding law – West Virginia, Idaho and Nebraska. Unfortunately the majority of state public breastfeeding laws don't do a particularly good job of stopping harassment of women who breastfeed in public (this is where I tell you again to go read my feature in Mothering magazine called Lactation [...]

“The Talk” on Breastfeeding and The New Federal Workplace Pumping Law

Jake — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:00:03 +0000

The latest "sorta famous women sitting in a semi-circle talking about things they know little about" daytime show is called "The Talk." You probably know lots more about it then I do. It looks like "The View" which I have seen only in clips – the clips that arrive couched in "can you believe [insert [...]

Tennessee Legislature Considering Eliminating 12 Month Limitation in Public Breastfeeding Law

Jake — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:18:28 +0000

Since its passage in 2006, Tennessee's public breastfeeding law has been trouble. It reads:

68-58-101. Right to breastfeed in any location. —

A mother has a right to breastfeed her child who is twelve (12) months of age or younger in any location, public or private, where the mother and child are otherwise authorized to be present.

The [...]

West Virginia’s Pending Breastfeeding Bills: I Have Good News and I Have Bad News

Jake — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:00:57 +0000

West Virginia is one of only three U.S. states (along with Nebraska and Idaho) that has no law whatsoever protecting breastfeeding. So I was glad to read that this month not one but two bills were introduced in the West Virginia Senate concerning breastfeeding.

Unfortunately, one of the bills could result in a law that helps [...]

Breastfeeding and the Law in New York – Another News Report that Misses the Point

Jake — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:06:12 +0000

Last year Julia Acevedo-Taylor claimed she was rudely asked to leave a Manhattan chocolate shop because she was breastfeeding her five month old. Last month, she filed a lawsuit against the shop. I'll be following that case – the first suit filed under the 1994 New York State public breastfeeding law – but watching a [...]

Wordless Wednesday

Jake — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:44:01 +0000

Photo Copyright Photographer Rachel Valley

Much of my work as a breastfeeding advocate/lawyer is about securing a right for mothers to be in public space. That means having a protected legal right to engage in the act of mothering in all the places people get to be. Mothers must own the public space along [...]

“Tits in the Parliament”: Are Fines for Breastfeeding Harassment Always a Good Thing?

Jake — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:51:12 +0000

For some months now I have been hearing about a proposed bill heading to the Taiwan Parliament that would impose a large fine (30,000 Taiwan dollars, about 940 US dollars) on "anyone attempting to prevent breastfeeding in public." Breastfeeding advocates the world over have heralded this bill as a model for laws elsewhere. However, I [...]

A Podcast with Me from the 2007 La Leche League International Conference – Still Timely, I Promise

Jake — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:48:53 +0000

Back in July of 2007, I gave a session on Breastfeeding and the Law at the La Leche League International Conference in Chicago. Good session, if I do say so myself, which you can buy on CD here. [Disclaimer: I don't make a cent if you buy it.] While at the Conference, I also did [...]

Another Intoxication Allegation So Rescind Alcohol Treatment Option??

Jake — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:06:21 +0000

Stacey Anvarinia, the North Dakota women who pled guilty to child neglect for allegedly breastfeeding her infant daughter while intoxicated, has been arrested again. According to the Grand Forks Herald, within hours of Anvarinia's sentencing to 18 months imprisonment, all but six months suspended and with an option to serve part of the six months [...]