Posted on 02/02/2006 1:48:53 PM PST by beaversmom
State Sen. Deanna Hanna wants employers to provide a private room for breast-feeding mothers, saying they deserve better than having to seek privacy in bathroom stall.
Hanna, D-Lakewood, said that accommodating nursing mothers would give infants a healthier start in life, cut down on missed days at work to care for sick infants and save on medical costs.
"It's a good deal all the way around for babies, mothers, businesses and health-care costs," she said.
She plans to introduce a bill during this legislative session.
"The bill won't require anything elaborate or special, just a quiet room where mothers could go for some privacy."
Hanna, a breast-feeding advocate and retired nurse, won passage of a similar measure two years ago. It gave women the right to breast-feed in most public places.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany said government should butt out of the private affairs of business and allow nursing mothers to negotiate such matters with their employees on a case-by-case basis.
"Most employers are willing to do just about anything to keep good employees," McElhany said. "Frankly, these kind of mandates do more to hurt employees. Businesses may be reluctant to hire people who fall under these kind of mandates."
Hanna said the intent of the proposed measure is to encourage women to breast-feed for six months to a year.
She argues that breast milk is widely considered the most nutritious source of food that can be given to a baby during the first year of its life.
"Babies are born to be breastfed," she said. "Working mothers find it hard to provide the milk needed for their babies while at work because few employers provide a place where they can go for some privacy."
Just a question..
What are infants doing at work?
I'm going to go make some popcorn and see how long it takes to have breastfeeding compared to urinating.
I get the feeling something is missing from this article. Are they really talking about mothers breastfeeding at work, or mothers who use a breastpump at work?
You can store breastmilk for long periods of time, thus giving the baby bottles of thawed breastmilk when mom isn't able to be there to nurse.
Ditto.
Hell, even if I'm not doing it for procreation, I should still receive special treatment in this context. I want handouts! Waaah!
Either way, it's not the responsibility or employers to provide special treatment to breastfeeding mothers.
I don't know about this being a feminist thing. Wouldn't feminists be less likely to worry about whether they're breastfeeding their babies or not? If they even have babies?
I thought that is what the storage room was for, and the main reason for the annual Christmas party... ;)
Probably breastpumping but the next bill will probably be that breastfeeding moms must be allowed to take their babies to work. Also, how much breastpumping is the employer supposed to endure. What if she has to do it every two hours for 20--30 minutes a pop?
Taking care of infants that young is a 24 hour a day job. How would the mother get any of her employers work done by bringing the infant to work??
Does not sound fair to the employer or the child. Productivity would definitely decrease and quality of care for the infant would decrease. Seems like a lose/lose proposition to me.
ROFL!
The bleeding-heart/PC fascism of the Left knows no bounds.
I get the feeling something is missing from this article. Are they really talking about mothers breastfeeding at work, or mothers who use a breastpump at work?
It all depends what they look like. Just kidding, don't hammer me.
Their real goal is to scream, yell, whine and find situations where they can cram their victimology down our throats...
and that is why they have latched on to the breastfeeding in public band wagon recently. (get it..hehe) little breast feeding humor for you.Seriously- they don't care about breastfeeing~ they just need something to reinforce that they are victims of the man...
C'mon...who in the hell has to pump every 2 hours for 20-30 mins? Considering most moms have maternity leave, the baby is at least 2 months old before she goes back to work and I don't know many 2 month olds who eat every 2 hours.
I'm all for limited government, but my wife had to sit in a bathroom stall while she used her pump at least twice a day at work. Asking a company to provide 1 office with a door so women can have some comfortable privacy to perform a vital function that keeps our babies alive is really not that bad.
Neither my child nor I suffered as a result. She needs to get over herself!
Why doesn't Deanna Hanna stay at home and work on being a Proverbs 31 wife instead of dictating in the Legislature?
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