Hello All-
In 1997, after years of hearing about moms getting harassed for
breastfeeding in public, I got inspired by bills that had passed in other
states, and called Liz Baldwin for advice. She had a lot of excellent
pointers, but told me be sure and get a Republican to sponsor it. Well, the
bill that was written looked NOTHING like the model legislation I submitted
to the Republican woman senator for review. Not unlike the experience
described by the Georgia lactnetter, only the language was pretty
horrendous, the bill essentially said moms could breastfeed in public as
long as they weren't offending anybody, and were discreetly situated. It
didn't come right out and say "only in the toilet stall" but it certainly
implied that. I was actually thrilled when it died in committee, because it
was so badly written that I was embarrassed to have my name associated with
it.
Two years later, a state-wide consortium had formed around the issue, and
we had two bills introduced. One was a right-to-breastfeed bill, and the
other was a workplace bill, that would have given moms a place to pump or
nurse, and unpaid break times for that purpose. The right-to-breastfeed
bill passed easily, I am sure in part b/c it was already "on the radar".
The workplace bill died in committee. Several wise people have commented
that what feels like failure is just a beginning, and that everyone learns
(including the legislators) from the experience. I got really excited a few
weeks ago when a mom who works at Costco called me about getting a pumping
room at her workplace; a few weeks later she had accomplished that goal,
and is now wanting to start work on a workplace bill for Oregon!!
Stick with it, you ARE making a difference. hearing about AB 2447 is
inspirational to me!
Martha Johnson RN IBCLC
Eugene Oregon
-----Original Message-----
From: Phyllis Adamson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 8:03 AM
Subject: Re: AB 2447
Jennifer said:
Two years later it was reintroduced by a different
> legislator after a very public incident in which a mom was harrassed. It
> passed easily.
The point is that bills like
> this rarely get much more than a cursory glance the first time
> around--persistence is key.
If memory serves, Karen Zeretsky's LC Registration bill took 3 times
through the Louisiana Legislature to pass.
A state legislator in AZ (USA) told me there has to be a BIG problem to be
fixed, not just a theoretical issue. Ho-hum. There are issues everywhere -
no need for another new law for every one. There are some 900 +/- bills
presented to the AZ state legislature every year. They are weeded down to
the two dozen or so most important, most needed, solvers of the greatest
problems, etc. That could be why Jennifer's group was more successful after
a public 'incident'.
Moms have told me their stores of problems of nursing in family
restaurants, in shopping malls, or in a large company cafeteria, but so
far, not one mom has been willing to sign an affidavit attesting to her
experience. She doesn't want the personal publicity, she wants to keep her
job, husband objects to notoriety...
--- Phyllis Adamson, IBCLC
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