I breastfed all 3 of my kids and therefore the minutes I have spent sitting in some random public bathroom stall feeding one of the little monsters are too many to count. It was a disgusting practice but the only option many women had until just last year.
July 2019 marks the first year it is no longer illegal anywhere in the U.S. to breastfeed your babe in public. That’s right people, it has only been ONE year since Idaho and Utah succumbed and decriminalized public breastfeeding. And now that the U.S. has caught up with the rest of the world, it looks like things are going to get even a little more comfortable.
On July 26th, The Fairness for Breastfeeding Mothers Act was signed into law by President Trump requiring all federal buildings to have designated and hygienic lactation spaces open to the public – meaning you don’t have to work in a federal building to use them.
The law requires rooms to be hidden from public view, free from intrusion, contain a chair and work surface for moms, and, as long as the building has electricity, have a power outlet. Buildings will be exempt from this law if they do not have space or new construction would be financially impractical.
The bill was first introduced by Washington, D.C., Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton in 2016 and then reintroduced by Montana senator Steve Daines last February.
