BreastFeeding Mothers Unite For Demonstration

Random New York citizens got to take part in a rally for nursing mothers on a subway car on Friday, August 7, 2009.

The Breastfeeding Promotion Leadership Committee entered the subway car in mass with their annual “caravan”, a journey of the ultimate meal for their children integrated with a demonstration of their rights as nursing mothers.

The BPLC hopes that as a whole, the caravan will bring to light the breastfeeding bill of rights they are pursuing by legal means with the ultimate goal of it becoming legislation.

Breastfeeding can still garner harassment for mothers from law enforcement officials, despite the fact that the practice is technically legal. For example, in 2004, a mother received a ticket for feeding her baby on the train.

Representatives of the bill of rights want breastfeeding to get the respect it deserves, especially considering the nature of the practice.

“Especially in New York, people are on the go all the time, but when a baby’s hungry, well, you have to feed the baby,” commented Mara Bragg, participator in the demonstration.

United States courts classify breastfeeding as a privacy issue, making it illegal to discriminate against a woman because she is breastfeeding.

Specifically, New York legislations maintains that public indecency laws do not extend to breastfeeding, that breastfeeding is allowed in all public as well as private locations, that employers must set aside reasonable unpaid breaks for mothers who feed, and that employers must also must provide a private area for mothers to feed their children.