Public Breastfeeding is Now Legal in All 50 States

Public Breastfeeding is Now Legal in All 50 States

By HTeam

photo credit:  HTeam // Shutterstock

Being able to breastfeed in public is now legal!!

Time and time again women are criticized and shamed for naturally feeding their infants in public, and now it is completely legal to do so in public. Public breastfeeding has been legal in most states for a few years now. In 1999, it became legal federally for women to breastfeed on federal property and in all federal buildings. Utah and Idaho were the only 2 states that did not have specific laws to protect mothers.

In Utah, the original legislation stated, “A woman may breastfeed in any place of public accommodation … irrespective of whether the woman’s breast is uncovered during or incidental to the breast-feeding.” Some people were just not comfortable with allowing women to breastfeed in public with no cover-up, so the legislation was changed. It now reads, “a woman may breastfeed in any place of public accommodation,” passing through the state legislature with a vote of 66-5.

In Idaho, the law passed unanimously without debate, after Rep. Paul Amador, a father to an infant, said:

“I think we can take a proactive stance here through legislation to promote the natural bond and health benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child. I also believe the health and nutritional choices of our families are best left as decisions for our families, not our government.”

Now lets work on normalizing breastfeeding, instead of sexualizing it.

Written by Clarke Jones

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