Dear Lactnetters,

This is a tag on to Jeanine Klaus' very cogent note earlier today, and we
apologize for taking this route to inform ILCA members, but this is the only
way to alert a large segment of the membership in a timely manner for this
crucial matter.

Please read through the bylaw revisions VERY carefully, comparing line by
line, article by article with the 1994 bylaws in your packet.  We have
serious concerns about what has been eliminated from the 1994 bylaws, and
that we, as a membership, have not been asked to vote on what has been
deleted.  To wit:

1.  Prohibition of compensation to ILCA Board members

2.  Board members will be able to take formula industry funding while
representing ILCA

3.  The article that prohibits ILCA from taking formula industry money has
been eliminated without benefit of membership input (Article III in July 1994
bylaws) (The statement in the purposes, (#8) that states ILCA supports the
implementation of the WHO International Code...." does NOT state that ILCA
cannot accept funding from formula industry.

4.  The provision for an executive board which ultimately means that all
major decisions for ILCA (a 4000+ membership) can be made by a vote of 4
(count 'em, FOUR) people!

5.  A formula industry representative can be a member of the ILCA Board as
long as they are voted in...nothing requires that this association be
disclosed to the ILCA membership prior to voting.  (A "conflict of interest"
statement is in the new bylaws, but if ILCA can accept formula money, then a
formula industry rep does not have a conflict of interest.)

6.  The ILCA Board members can go on record as endorsing literature and
products in their official capacity -- something that was prohibited in the
1994 bylaws

7.  The issue of the "hazards" of infant formula is listed in the Standards
of Practice, but under the new bylaws, it states that ILCA will "heighten
recognition of the "consequences" of artificial feeding for infants and
children"  which certainly waters down and makes it more acceptable.  (There
are both good and bad consequences to any action -- consequence is not
necessarily negative.  "Hazards" are VERY serious)

8.  In the 1994 bylaws, it stated that "As an organization, ILCA shall not
endorse any literature or any product."  This has been eliminated in the 1996
revisions without any explanation.

9.  In the 1994 bylaws it states that "As an organization, neither ILCA nor
its regional, national, or local affiliates will accept direct funding from
industires producing bm substitutes, feeding bottles or teats, or whose
preoducts are produced or marketed as being a partial or total replacement
for breastmilk.  This has been eliminated from the 1996 revision.  This means
that ILCA can accept ads for formula in the JHL, can have exhibitors at the
conference that support formula/bottle feeding, etc.

10.  And more.....

Now, the ILCA Board will tell you that the elimination of these bylaws merely
means that these particular issues (and others I haven't mentioned) will go
into the policies & procedures of ILCA.  However, the P&P, as they are NOT
bylaws, can be changed at the whim of the Board -- and, mind you, at the whim
of the "Executive Committee" which, note the change in bylaws, only needs a
majority of the 6 members (4 people) to vote on them.  Also, policy &
procedure changes do NOT need to be communicated to the membership at large;
therefore, you may not even be aware of some changes made.

The membership of ILCA felt that these principles were important enough to
put into our bylaws, where it can only be changed by a specific MEMBERSHIP
vote.  The way the board has set up the bylaws this time, you can only vote
on line item issues, and NOT on the bylaws as a whole.  You are entitled to a
full explanation from the board as to why these particular issues are
eliminated from the bylaw revision -- article by article, not simply a
statement in the cover letter that says, "Once adopted, bylaws can only be
amended through a special vote of the entire membership.  Therefore, bylaws
should contain only basic principles, and modification or replacement of
these principles should require careful deliberation.  In view of this fact,
every effort has been made to retain in these bylaws only those sections
which pertain to basic principles and to relocate all other passages to a
policy and procedure manual."  ILCA not taking formula money IS a basic
principle!

However, they are not even following what they have said in the cover letter.
 That is, BYLAWS CAN ONLY BE AMENDED THROUGH A SPECIAL VOTE OF THE ENTIRE
MEMBERSHIP"  This means that you are entitled to vote on the elimination of
the passages from the bylaws, something that is NOT provided for in the
current voting process.  ILCA's legal counsel may insist that this voting
procedure legal, but in our opinion it is TOTALLY UNETHICAL.

Please, please, please -- read through the bylaws carefully, and vote
appropriately.  Do we want our organization run by a committee of 6 people?
 (Note carefully what the executive committee can and cannot do).  Do you
want ILCA to accept formula money?  (This doesn't mean this current board
would do so, but the safeguards are gone.  Should ILCA survive over the years
as your professional organization, there is NOTHING to stop the future
generations of Board members from changing policies WITHOUT input from the
members.)

Some of the most important people on the Board have been the International
Delegate, the Canadian Delegate, and the South Pacific Delegate.  Although
the number of delegates is increasing to represent the entire world -- this
is wonderful -- please note that there is NO provision that insists that one
of the delegates outside of North America will serve on the executive
committee; the executive committee -- making all the decisions for our
INTERNATIONAL organization -- can be made up entirely of US/Canadian
citizens.  As former members of the board, we can tell you that it was Evi
Adams, Helen Armstrong,  Maureen Minchin,  Felicity Savage, Jan Edwards, and
 Genevieve Becker that kept us US people focused on the rest of the world.
 We are forever grateful to their input and their perspectives on that.

If you have read this far, God bless you -- and as you consider the future of
ILCA, keep these thoughts in mind.  If you are in an affiliate, if you know
other ILCA members, discuss this with them.  If you have concerns, e-mail
your concerns to Amy Spangler, President, ([log in to unmask]) or any of the
other ILCA board members.  You may cc the ILCA office at [log in to unmask]

Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC                            Linda Kutner, RN, BSN,
IBCLC
Wheaton, IL                                                   Mooresville, NC
President, (1990-1992)  ILCA BOD                   President, (1992-1994)
ILCA BOD
[log in to unmask]                                                [log in to unmask]

Jeanine Klaus, MA, IBCLC                              Candace Woessner, MS,
IBCLC
Oakville, ONT                                                  Pottstown, PA
President, (1988-1990)  ILCA BOD                    President, (1986-1987)
ILCA BOD
[log in to unmask]