On Monday, Sun-Times columnist Laura Berman wrote about a "nurse-in" protest of Delta Air Lines after the carrier booted off a female passenger for breast-feeding; Berman urged social support for women who need to breast- feed in public. Readers responded:
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Mama-rama: Breast-feeding is not offensive (The Hub)
Maybe you've heard about the woman who was kicked off a Delta Airlines flight for nursing her daughter a couple of weeks ago. According to 27-year-old Emily Gillette of Santa Fe, N.M., she was in a window seat in the second-to-last row with her husband between her and the aisle, and no part of her breast was showing. Unfortunately for Emily, a flight attendant took offense and asked her to cover up with a blanket. When Emily declined, she and her husband and daughter were asked to get off the plane.
Now, I'm sure I don't have to tell you -- again -- how I feel about people who are offended by public breast-feeding. Basically, it begins with "too" and ends with "bad," with a "damn" in the middle there. The idea that feeding a child could be considered obscene or indiscreet, while every day thousands of men get away with plumber's crack scot-free, is enough to raise my blood pressure to dangerous heights.
click to read more...
Now, I'm sure I don't have to tell you -- again -- how I feel about people who are offended by public breast-feeding. Basically, it begins with "too" and ends with "bad," with a "damn" in the middle there. The idea that feeding a child could be considered obscene or indiscreet, while every day thousands of men get away with plumber's crack scot-free, is enough to raise my blood pressure to dangerous heights.
click to read more...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Breastfeeding Rally To Take Place At DFW Airport (Press Release)
Nursing mothers and their supporters will be gathering on Friday, December 1 at 10 AM, at the Delta ticket counter in Terminal E of DFW airport.
On November 21, mothers and other advocates took part in a nation-wide nurse-in at roughly 40 U.S. airports. Like all of the rallies across the country, the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Nurse-in supported the right to breastfeed in all public and private locations, anywhere a mother and child might be, regardless of any issues of discretion. There was no formal national organization sponsoring this event, but amazingly, hundreds of mothers and other supporters turned out nation-wide. Unlike the rest of the nation, however, the supporters at the DFW Airport rally were harassed, insulted, and threatened with possible arrest by members of the DFW police (Department of Public Safety officers), and then asked to leave.
Though the right to breastfeed already exists, many people are unaware of this right, or may choose to challenge this right, or otherwise intimidate and cause discomfort for nursing moms, posing a great threat to the continuation and exclusivity of breastfeeding relationships and compromising the health of mothers and children, and the economic well-being of the society.
The goals of this Friday’s nurse-in are:
• To insist that the DFW Airport Police (DPS) apologize to the attendees of the November 21st rally for the unacceptable comments and threats, and provide documentation that training is being implemented to educate all DPS officers about the laws concerning breastfeeding in the state of Texas (specifically Texas Health And Safety Code Chapter 165 Section 002, which states “A mother is entitled to breastfeed her child in any location in which the mother is authorized to be,” as well as the definitions of indecent exposure and disorderly conduct). The DPS should ensure that in the future, officers will protect, rather than endanger breastfeeding relationships, by refraining from engaging in harassment of nursing moms and their children. The police should not approach breastfeeding mothers, but rather the mothers should be left alone.
• To hold Delta accountable for the removal of Emily Gillette from one of their flights and to insist that training procedures will be put into place to ensure that all staff at Delta and its subsidiaries will uphold and support a child’s right to breastfeed.
• To call for airlines to revisit their breastfeeding and transport of pumped breast milk policies, to support traveling families and working mothers who must travel for business and be separated from their children. Current policies about liquid items, which restrict the amount of pumped breast milk allowed on board with mothers who do not have their babies with them, compromise the health of babies who depend on pumped milk, and force mothers to dump precious breast milk that they have pumped while they were separated from their children. This situation is especially harmful for babies whose mothers already have difficulty pumping enough to meet the child’s needs during times of separation.
• To call for immediate passage of pending federal legislation that offers civil rights protection for breastfeeding women in the workplace, and new federal legislation to protect the right to breastfeed whenever and wherever mothers and their children are allowed to be, regardless of whether any part of the mother’s breast might be exposed during or incidental to the feeding. This legislation will clarify rights that already exist, and nullify any business policies or laws throughout the country that are already in place or might come into existence, which would infringe on a mother and child’s constitutional right to breastfeed (For example, Tennessee law protects a mother’s right to breastfeed a child in public only as long as the child is younger than 13 months of age).
The issue of breastfeeding rights goes far beyond a woman’s right to nurse - it also encompasses a basic human right for children, the right to eat and to receive comfort and nurturing at the breast.
The Nurse-ins have been coordinated by volunteers.
On November 21, mothers and other advocates took part in a nation-wide nurse-in at roughly 40 U.S. airports. Like all of the rallies across the country, the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Nurse-in supported the right to breastfeed in all public and private locations, anywhere a mother and child might be, regardless of any issues of discretion. There was no formal national organization sponsoring this event, but amazingly, hundreds of mothers and other supporters turned out nation-wide. Unlike the rest of the nation, however, the supporters at the DFW Airport rally were harassed, insulted, and threatened with possible arrest by members of the DFW police (Department of Public Safety officers), and then asked to leave.
Though the right to breastfeed already exists, many people are unaware of this right, or may choose to challenge this right, or otherwise intimidate and cause discomfort for nursing moms, posing a great threat to the continuation and exclusivity of breastfeeding relationships and compromising the health of mothers and children, and the economic well-being of the society.
The goals of this Friday’s nurse-in are:
• To insist that the DFW Airport Police (DPS) apologize to the attendees of the November 21st rally for the unacceptable comments and threats, and provide documentation that training is being implemented to educate all DPS officers about the laws concerning breastfeeding in the state of Texas (specifically Texas Health And Safety Code Chapter 165 Section 002, which states “A mother is entitled to breastfeed her child in any location in which the mother is authorized to be,” as well as the definitions of indecent exposure and disorderly conduct). The DPS should ensure that in the future, officers will protect, rather than endanger breastfeeding relationships, by refraining from engaging in harassment of nursing moms and their children. The police should not approach breastfeeding mothers, but rather the mothers should be left alone.
• To hold Delta accountable for the removal of Emily Gillette from one of their flights and to insist that training procedures will be put into place to ensure that all staff at Delta and its subsidiaries will uphold and support a child’s right to breastfeed.
• To call for airlines to revisit their breastfeeding and transport of pumped breast milk policies, to support traveling families and working mothers who must travel for business and be separated from their children. Current policies about liquid items, which restrict the amount of pumped breast milk allowed on board with mothers who do not have their babies with them, compromise the health of babies who depend on pumped milk, and force mothers to dump precious breast milk that they have pumped while they were separated from their children. This situation is especially harmful for babies whose mothers already have difficulty pumping enough to meet the child’s needs during times of separation.
• To call for immediate passage of pending federal legislation that offers civil rights protection for breastfeeding women in the workplace, and new federal legislation to protect the right to breastfeed whenever and wherever mothers and their children are allowed to be, regardless of whether any part of the mother’s breast might be exposed during or incidental to the feeding. This legislation will clarify rights that already exist, and nullify any business policies or laws throughout the country that are already in place or might come into existence, which would infringe on a mother and child’s constitutional right to breastfeed (For example, Tennessee law protects a mother’s right to breastfeed a child in public only as long as the child is younger than 13 months of age).
The issue of breastfeeding rights goes far beyond a woman’s right to nurse - it also encompasses a basic human right for children, the right to eat and to receive comfort and nurturing at the breast.
The Nurse-ins have been coordinated by volunteers.
Get past breast-feeding unease (DesMoines Register)
News that Delta kicked a family off a flight in October because the breast-feeding mother refused to cover her baby with a blanket is unfortunately not surprising.
Despite growing knowledge about the health benefits of breast-feeding - as if nourishment weren't enough - many people still feel uncomfortable about public breast-feeding.
Remember a few years ago in Iowa when a West Branch restaurant owner asked a nursing mother to cover up, go to the restroom or leave? She left.
click to read more...
Despite growing knowledge about the health benefits of breast-feeding - as if nourishment weren't enough - many people still feel uncomfortable about public breast-feeding.
Remember a few years ago in Iowa when a West Branch restaurant owner asked a nursing mother to cover up, go to the restroom or leave? She left.
click to read more...
Airlines gain extension in breast-feeding case (Burlington Free Press)
Delta Air Lines and Freedom Airlines have asked for an extension to answer the charge that they violated Vermont's Public Accommodations Law when a breast-feeding passenger was kicked off a flight in October, according to the attorney representing the woman.
The air carriers were supposed to respond to the Vermont Human Rights Commission by Monday, but instead were granted an extension and have until Dec. 14 to respond, according to Elizabeth Boepple, the attorney who is representing Emily Gillette of New Mexico.
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The air carriers were supposed to respond to the Vermont Human Rights Commission by Monday, but instead were granted an extension and have until Dec. 14 to respond, according to Elizabeth Boepple, the attorney who is representing Emily Gillette of New Mexico.
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A little common sense (The Mountain Press)
Public breastfeeding OK if it's done with some privacy, sensitivity
It's not so much that people are offended by the very act of breastfeeding in public. It's that a few mothers just don't know how to do it discreetly. Those who make a production out of it and seem to want to attract attention are making it difficult for those who respect privacy and realize the sensitive nature of such an act.
It's funny how things can get quickly out of hand. A woman was ordered off an airplane recently for breastfeeding her daughter openly. Now that's become a rallying point for women all over. Several airports, including the one in Nashville, saw protests by women who object to what the airplane personnel did.
click to read more...
It's not so much that people are offended by the very act of breastfeeding in public. It's that a few mothers just don't know how to do it discreetly. Those who make a production out of it and seem to want to attract attention are making it difficult for those who respect privacy and realize the sensitive nature of such an act.
It's funny how things can get quickly out of hand. A woman was ordered off an airplane recently for breastfeeding her daughter openly. Now that's become a rallying point for women all over. Several airports, including the one in Nashville, saw protests by women who object to what the airplane personnel did.
click to read more...
Lawyer: Airline using 'avoidance tactics' (Bennington Banner)
MANCHESTER — Manchester lawyer Elizabeth Boepple, representing a woman who filed civil rights charges against Delta/Freedom airlines, issued a press release Monday morning intended to draw attention to what she calls "avoidance tactics" on the part of Delta and Freedom Airlines. Boepple is representing Emily Gillette, the mother booted off a the airplane in Burlington after a dispute involving the way she breastfed her child.
The statement, released by the Manchester firm of Witten, Woolmington, Campbell, and Boepple, announced that Delta and Freedom Airlines had failed to meet Monday's deadline to file an answer to Gillette's complaint that charges the airlines with violating her civil right to breastfeed her daughter. Gillette, a resident of Albuquerque, N.M., was asked to leave an Oct. 13 flight out of Burlington after she refused a Freedom Airlines flight attendant's demands to cover her 22-month-old daughter with a blanket while she breast-fed.
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The statement, released by the Manchester firm of Witten, Woolmington, Campbell, and Boepple, announced that Delta and Freedom Airlines had failed to meet Monday's deadline to file an answer to Gillette's complaint that charges the airlines with violating her civil right to breastfeed her daughter. Gillette, a resident of Albuquerque, N.M., was asked to leave an Oct. 13 flight out of Burlington after she refused a Freedom Airlines flight attendant's demands to cover her 22-month-old daughter with a blanket while she breast-fed.
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Keeping the Skies Safe from Nipples and Muslims (CounterPunch)
The unwarranted removal of passengers from a domestic air flight has triggered an investigation, a discrimination complaint and a national protest.
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Putting Breast Milk to Good Use (Time Magazine)
A Minnesota mom finds a way to send surplus milk to HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa
Geny Cassady's daughter Madison was born last November with a congenital heart defect and needed surgery at five days old. While she was hospitalized, nurses encouraged Cassady to pump and store breast milk for her daughter's recovery. But that time never came — Madison died of a pulmonary embolism less than two weeks later. For a month, Cassady couldn't look at the containers in her freezer because the sight of the unused milk was too hard to bear. "It wasa very difficult time," she says. Her husband, Bill, finally poured them down a sink drain while she was out.
The Cassadys didn't know of any other choice; doctors and nurses at the hospital hadn't offered any alternatives other than disposing of it. But now a program named for their daughter offers a way for mothers who have lost children to donate their milk in an effort to help some of the world's most vulnerable children. The Madison Cassady Program is a part of the larger International Breast Milk Project, which helps feed children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Africa with surplus breast milk from mothers in the U.S.
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Geny Cassady's daughter Madison was born last November with a congenital heart defect and needed surgery at five days old. While she was hospitalized, nurses encouraged Cassady to pump and store breast milk for her daughter's recovery. But that time never came — Madison died of a pulmonary embolism less than two weeks later. For a month, Cassady couldn't look at the containers in her freezer because the sight of the unused milk was too hard to bear. "It wasa very difficult time," she says. Her husband, Bill, finally poured them down a sink drain while she was out.
The Cassadys didn't know of any other choice; doctors and nurses at the hospital hadn't offered any alternatives other than disposing of it. But now a program named for their daughter offers a way for mothers who have lost children to donate their milk in an effort to help some of the world's most vulnerable children. The Madison Cassady Program is a part of the larger International Breast Milk Project, which helps feed children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Africa with surplus breast milk from mothers in the U.S.
click to read more...
Delta Airlines Joins 21st Century (The Nation)
The Nation -- I'm happy to report some insta-progress on the Delta Air Lines breast-feeding scandal, which I've been chronicling hereat the Notion. For those who've been out of the loop: a mother (in crunchy Vermont!) was thrown off a plane for the dire national security breach of nursing her baby. A remarkable number of people -- over 20,000 -- signed a petition by MomsRising, an online mothers' political group (an excerpt from the founders' new book, by the way, recently appeared in the Nation). Countless numbers of people were inspired to call Delta about the incident, and many also participated in protests and "nurse-ins" at Delta terminals across the land. Last week Delta issued an apology, as well as chiding its subsidiary, Freedom Airlines, which operated the plane from which the lady was so rudely escorted. Here's Delta's morsel of holiday crow: "Delta Air Lines supports a mother's right to breastfeed her baby onboard our aircraft. We regret the decision to remove the passenger from Flight 6160 as it was not in keeping with Delta's high service standards, and we are coordinating with Freedom Airlines to ensure that they deliver the level of service we expect for all of our customers."
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Time to support breast-feeding (Chicago Sun Times)
Breast is best, didn't you know? But don't show those precious breasts in public, or else.
It seems that women just can't win when it comes to their breasts. Last week, a nationwide "nurse-in" took place to protest a flight attendant who had a breast-feeding mom thrown off a plane for refusing to cover up. Emily Gillette was seated with her husband during a three-hour delay on a flight out of Burlington, Vt. When asked by a flight attendant to cover herself with a blanket while she breast-fed her daughter, Gillette refused. She and her family were escorted off the plane and rebooked on a different airline the next morning.
Women everywhere were outraged and a "nurse-in" in response took place last Tuesday. At 10 a.m., impassioned women gathered at Delta Airlines ticket counters across the country to show their support for Gillette and every woman's right to breast-feed her child.
click to read more...
It seems that women just can't win when it comes to their breasts. Last week, a nationwide "nurse-in" took place to protest a flight attendant who had a breast-feeding mom thrown off a plane for refusing to cover up. Emily Gillette was seated with her husband during a three-hour delay on a flight out of Burlington, Vt. When asked by a flight attendant to cover herself with a blanket while she breast-fed her daughter, Gillette refused. She and her family were escorted off the plane and rebooked on a different airline the next morning.
Women everywhere were outraged and a "nurse-in" in response took place last Tuesday. At 10 a.m., impassioned women gathered at Delta Airlines ticket counters across the country to show their support for Gillette and every woman's right to breast-feed her child.
click to read more...
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Lampert Smith: UW rethinks its stadium lactation (Wisconsin State Journal)
I'm pleased to announce a breakthrough in the "breast wars" at Camp Randall Stadium.
There will be no need to strap a nursing bra on the statue of Barry Alvarez, paint nipples on the white footballs on that ugly sculpture outside the stadium, or stage a "nurse-in" at the Capital One Bowl. (Although it was fun hearing all of your ideas, really!)
The folks in the UW Athletic Department have heard the complaints loud and clear about the nursing mom who was turned away from the first-aid station where she had hoped to use her breast pump. They have apologized profusely for not doing a better job helping her find one of Camp Randall's seven new family restrooms. (The upper deck, where that mom has been a season- ticket holder for many years, doesn't have one.)
And they want to make it very, very clear that they didn't kick her out of the stadium for breast-feeding.
click to read more...
There will be no need to strap a nursing bra on the statue of Barry Alvarez, paint nipples on the white footballs on that ugly sculpture outside the stadium, or stage a "nurse-in" at the Capital One Bowl. (Although it was fun hearing all of your ideas, really!)
The folks in the UW Athletic Department have heard the complaints loud and clear about the nursing mom who was turned away from the first-aid station where she had hoped to use her breast pump. They have apologized profusely for not doing a better job helping her find one of Camp Randall's seven new family restrooms. (The upper deck, where that mom has been a season- ticket holder for many years, doesn't have one.)
And they want to make it very, very clear that they didn't kick her out of the stadium for breast-feeding.
click to read more...
No modesty (Patriot News)
Whatever happened to modesty? Why do women think, just because they're nursing a baby, that they can let it hang out?
Not everyone wants to look at a breast. I'm tired of being bombarded with naked bodies and breasts.
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Not everyone wants to look at a breast. I'm tired of being bombarded with naked bodies and breasts.
click to read more...
Decriminalizing breast feeding (Baltimore Sun)
If there is one area of human behavior into which legislatures should not have to intrude, it would surely be breast feeding.
Nature's brilliant plan for nourishing infants that also helps support tiny immune systems is regarded by medical experts as superior to any substitute method and thus widely encouraged.
Yet more than 40 states, including Maryland, have enacted statutes to affirmatively assert a mother's right to nurse her child in public or at least to exempt her from criminal prosecution under indecency laws. A more sweeping proposal is also pending at the federal level.
Is this necessary? It shouldn't be. But the genesis of such laws was made clear enough recently when a nursing mother was put off a Delta Air Lines flight in Vermont because she refused to put a blanket over her child's head.
click to read more...
Nature's brilliant plan for nourishing infants that also helps support tiny immune systems is regarded by medical experts as superior to any substitute method and thus widely encouraged.
Yet more than 40 states, including Maryland, have enacted statutes to affirmatively assert a mother's right to nurse her child in public or at least to exempt her from criminal prosecution under indecency laws. A more sweeping proposal is also pending at the federal level.
Is this necessary? It shouldn't be. But the genesis of such laws was made clear enough recently when a nursing mother was put off a Delta Air Lines flight in Vermont because she refused to put a blanket over her child's head.
click to read more...
Breastfeeding simply requires some modesty (Statesman Journal)
This is regarding the article about the woman removed from the plane because she refused to cover herself while nursing her child.
I know that breastfeeding is natural and wonderful for both mother and child, and I agree. However, it is not unreasonable that the woman cover herself for her modesty and those around her.
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I know that breastfeeding is natural and wonderful for both mother and child, and I agree. However, it is not unreasonable that the woman cover herself for her modesty and those around her.
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Engage in some modesty when breast-feeding (The Leaf-Chronicle)
After reading an article in the paper titled "Nursing moms support women taken off plane," I was simply appalled.
This woman was taken off the plane not because she was breast-feeding but because she refused to cover up.
I support breast-feeding to the fullest. I have three children of my own, and I breast-fed all of them up to one year old, but never did I feel the need to bare myself to the public.
When I breast-fed in a public place, I always covered up, for my own comfort as much as for everyone else's comfort.
click to read more...
This woman was taken off the plane not because she was breast-feeding but because she refused to cover up.
I support breast-feeding to the fullest. I have three children of my own, and I breast-fed all of them up to one year old, but never did I feel the need to bare myself to the public.
When I breast-fed in a public place, I always covered up, for my own comfort as much as for everyone else's comfort.
click to read more...
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Rep. Maloney Hails Nurse-In at Delta Ticket Counter (press release)
NEW YORK, NY – U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) hailed the breastfeeding advocates and new mothers who staged nurse-ins at the Delta Airlines ticket counters at JFK Airport and other airports around the country earlier today. The advocates and new moms initiated the nurse-ins after Delta Airlines employees removed a nursing mother and her family from one of its flights earlier this month.
“I commend the women who are out at airports all over the country today to help make sure that women can breastfeed if they choose to,” said Rep. Maloney. “Breastfeeding is healthy and natural and women who choose to breastfeed their children should not be discouraged, regardless if they are at home, at work or on an airplane. This incident again shows that we need to do more to back women who choose to breastfeed in this country -- which is exactly what my legislation, the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, would do.”
click to read more...
“I commend the women who are out at airports all over the country today to help make sure that women can breastfeed if they choose to,” said Rep. Maloney. “Breastfeeding is healthy and natural and women who choose to breastfeed their children should not be discouraged, regardless if they are at home, at work or on an airplane. This incident again shows that we need to do more to back women who choose to breastfeed in this country -- which is exactly what my legislation, the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, would do.”
click to read more...
Metro moms stage 'nurse-in' protest (The Detroit News Online)
Airline's treatment of woman draws ire
ROMULUS -- Ten moms, a grandma and a contingent of diaper-clad rabble rousers staged a "nurse-in" at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Tuesday as part of a nationwide protest against the treatment of a nursing mother aboard a plane.
Emily Gillette and her family were escorted off a plane departing from Burlington, Vt., on Oct. 13 after she refused to cover up while nursing her 22-month-old toddler during a flight on Freedom Airlines, a contractor for Delta Air Lines.
Mothers across the country are buzzing about the incident on Internet sites like BloggingBaby.com and Motheringdotcommune.
The grassroots protests, with no identifiable leadership, occurred at 10 a.m. at Delta ticket counters nationwide.
click to read more...
ROMULUS -- Ten moms, a grandma and a contingent of diaper-clad rabble rousers staged a "nurse-in" at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Tuesday as part of a nationwide protest against the treatment of a nursing mother aboard a plane.
Emily Gillette and her family were escorted off a plane departing from Burlington, Vt., on Oct. 13 after she refused to cover up while nursing her 22-month-old toddler during a flight on Freedom Airlines, a contractor for Delta Air Lines.
Mothers across the country are buzzing about the incident on Internet sites like BloggingBaby.com and Motheringdotcommune.
The grassroots protests, with no identifiable leadership, occurred at 10 a.m. at Delta ticket counters nationwide.
click to read more...
Breast-feeding debacle damages Delta (Berkshire Eagle)
Last week, dozens of self-proclaimed "lactivists" held protests at Delta Air Lines ticket counters throughout the United States. The women nursed children in a show of support for Emily Gillette, a New Mexico woman who, on Oct. 13, was ordered off a Freedom Airlines flight about to take off from Burlington International Airport in Burlington, Vt. Gillette's offense was not making a bomb threat or even carrying a forbidden bottle of shampoo aboard the plane, a Delta subsidiary. Rather, she and her family were removed from the flight by a flight attendant who took offense at the woman for openly breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter during a delay.
click to read more...
click to read more...
Breastfeeding campaign offers legitimate advice (Elmira Star-Gazette)
Kathleen Costello wrote in an Oct. 2 column that the "use of scare-tactics and negative advertising is inaccurate and irresponsible," in regard to the breastfeeding campaign. This campaign is not irresponsible. Let's take the in-your-face, anti-smoking campaign. It goes to extremes to get the message across that you should stop smoking. Where are the complaints about the smoking campaign?
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