Lawmaker files public breast-feeding bill again

BOSTON -- Mothers would be allowed to breast feed in public without fear of reprisals under a bill backed by MetroWest lawmakers.

State Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, is pushing the legislation, which he has filed twice before, that strengthens women's right to breast feed in public places. It ensures breast-feeding women cannot be charged with crimes such as indecent exposure and calls for imposing fines of up to $300 against anyone who deprives them of the right to breast feed.

"When you have to feed the crying infant, you have to feed the crying infant, you can't wait," Linsky said yesterday before touting the bill to the Legislature's joint Judiciary Committee. "We just have to make it clear that it's not against the law."

While Linsky said no one incident prompted him to file the legislation, he said he knows of numerous times when women have been asked to stop breast-feeding by mall security guards and restaurant owners who did not know the women were not breaking the law.


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