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BostonHerald.com - Local Politics: Bay State law feeds controversy

Bay State law feeds controversy
By Jessica Heslam
Monday, August 1, 2005 - Updated: 03:49 PM EST

Americans may be more comfortable with seeing women breast-feeding, but in Puritan Massachusetts, moms can still be cuffed for nursing in public.
     While laws proposed to protect nursing mothers have been stalled at the State House, a nationwide survey released today found more people endorse breast-feeding and are comfortable with moms nursing in public than they were a year ago.
     But you'd better beware in the Bay State.
     Massachusetts isn't among the 30 states that allow women to breast-feed in any public or private locations or the 15 states that exempt breast-feeding from public indecency laws.
     In fact, women who breast-feed in public in Massachusetts can be charged with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, or lewd and lascivious conduct, a felony.
     State Rep. David Linsky (D-Natick) has filed a bill for a third time that would prevent police from charging women for breast-feeding in public and prevent people from booting them from public places. Linsky filed the bill in 2000 and again in 2002, but it stalled both times.
     ``It makes it clear that breast-feeding in Massachusetts is not a crime,'' Linsky said of his legislation. ``A lot of women have been told to stop breast-feeding by police, store employees and security guards, who said, `You can't do that here or you will be arrested.' ''
     State Sen. Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln) has a bill pending that would allow women to breast-feed in any public or private location. The bill would also require employers to give employees unpaid break times to express milk and provide them with a private room. Fargo first filed the bill in 2002, but it too stalled.
     ``You shouldn't need a law that allows a mother to feed her baby when the baby gets hungry, but unfortunately, we do need a law, because women do get hassled for breast-feeding in public, and they can't do anything about it,'' said Anne Merewood, research director of Boston Medical Center's Breastfeeding Center.
     Roxbury mother Clarissa Turner breast-feeds in public and is familiar with the looks.
     ``Some people do look, no one has ever said anything to me,'' said Turner, who nurses her youngest, 2-year-old Marquez Turner.
     ``My baby is hungry on demand. I'm not going to deprive my baby because someone is looking at me,'' Turner said. ``I'm not doing anything wrong.''
     The public breast-feeding debate has been thrust into the spotlight lately. Just last week, a Colorado woman demanded an apology after she was slapped with a ticket for breast-feeding her son at a beach. The $50 ticket was voided because Colorado state law allows women to nurse in public.
     Barbara Walters sparked protests after she said on her talk show, ABC's ``The View,'' that she was uncomfortable while sitting near a woman who was breast-feeding on a plane.
     ``Breasts are seen as sexual objects in this country, but it shouldn't get in the way of breast-feeding because breast-feeding is very good for the baby,'' Merewood said.
     Attitude shift
     A survey done by the National Breast-feeding Awareness Campaign questioned nearly 1,000 people before and after a media campaign promoting breast-feeding last year. Among the survey results:
     

69 percent of men said they were comfortable seeing a baby breast-fed in public in 2005 compared to 59 percent in 2004.
     

In 2005, 67 percent of women and 62 percent of men felt that the best way to feed a baby was to give only breast milk, up from 60 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
     

In 2005, 59 percent of women and 65 percent of men agreed that babies should be breast-fed exclusively for the first six months, up from 55 percent and 53 percent, respectively.