Breastfeeding laws

[mom4peace]

Does anyone know if a law protects BF moms from indecency laws, but doesn't explicitly give them the right to feed anywhere that they have the right to be .... can private establishments ask them to leave or feed elsewhere. For example, I saw VA has a law that women are protected from indecency laws and can BF on any land owned, leased or controlled by the state, but what about everywhere else?

[Evie]

Originally Posted by mom4peace

Does anyone know if a law protects BF moms from indecency laws, but doesn't explicitly give them the right to feed anywhere that they have the right to be .... can private establishments ask them to leave or feed elsewhere. For example, I saw VA has a law that women are protected from indecency laws and can BF on any land owned, leased or controlled by the state, but what about everywhere else?

The short answer is that yes, the business owner (or his/her/its employee) can ask the mother to leave or request that she take some other action such as use a blanket or move to a designated room. If the mother refuses, the business owner (or his/her/its employee) could theoretically call the police and have the mother arrested for trespassing.

That being said, as someone who has spent a lot of time breastfeeding in VA, I have never been asked to leave, move, or cover-up while breastfeeding in public. If I were ever asked to do one of those things I would probably challenge the employee about store policy and/or ask to see a manager, but leave if they weren't willing to reconsider and write a letter to the owner/corporate office/other appropriate person about my experience.

[mamajake]

Best resources for state-by-state breastfeeding law imho: http://llli.org/Law/LawBills.html

Virginia:

"Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-387
1994 Va. ALS 398; 1994 Va. Acts 398; 1994 Va. Ch. 398; 1994 Va. HB 1188

Section 18.2-387 Indecent Exposure
Every person who intentionally makes an obscene display or exposure of his person, or the private parts thereof, in any public place, or in any place where others are present, or procures another to so expose himself, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. No person shall be deemed to be in violation of this section for breastfeeding a child in any public place or any place where others are present

Va. Code Ann. §2.2-1147.1, 2002
Virginia House Bill # 1264, 2002

Right to breast-feed

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a woman may breast-feed her child at any location where that woman would otherwise be allowed on property that is owned, leased or controlled by the Commonwealth as defined in § 2.2-1147.

Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-341.1 Exemptions from jury service upon request.

Any of the following persons may serve on juries in civil and criminal cases but shall be exempt from jury service upon his request:

8. A person who has legal custody of and is necessarily and personally responsible for a child or children 16 years of age or younger requiring continuous care by him during normal court hours, or any mother who is breast-feeding a child."

So, yes, Virginia's public breastfeeding law applies ONLY to state owned property and not to any other space.

And, yes, some states have only laws concerning public indecency but no "right to breastfeed" law.

And some other states still have no breastfeeding laws at all.

For a map of public breastfeeding laws: http://www.mothering.com/resources/map.pdf

[A_Random_Phrase]

Yay, (I looked at the map) I live in Arizona! Thanks for the link mamajake.