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Wyoming Legislation Proceeds with Revisions

by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor on February 16th, 2007

The Jackson Hole Star Tribune originally reported on February 5, 2007, that the proposed Wyoming breastfeeding legislation stalled in committee, but on February 16 the Billings Gazette reported that a substantially revised version of House Bill 105 has passed in the House of Representatives and received unanimous approval by a Senate committee. Among other things, the revision eliminated a requirement for employers to accommodate nursing mothers with work breaks and a private place to pump. The news article quotes Mike Moser of the Wyoming Retail Association:

I know the intent was honorable, but the practical application would have cost every business in Wyoming potentially a lot of money. The issue is very important, but the mandates went a little bit far for practicality’s purpose.

It’s disappointing that businesses fail to recognize that breastfeeding not only benefits babies but benefits nursing mothers and their employers! Breastfeeding protects a mother’s health in many ways (I just wrote about how it reduces a mother’s risk of heart attack) and because breastfed babies are sick less often than bottle-fed babies, nursing mothers do not require as much time off work to care for sick children. Providing reasonable work breaks and a comfortable place to nurse benefits employers by providing a positive work environment and reducing absenteeism. Also, let’s not forget the simple fact that a happy mother is a good employee! Legislation shouldn’t be required to help employers realize that fact and it’s shameful that even when such legislation is proposed it is shot down by business lobbyists.

I wish I could have been there to defend that provision along with the one that would have required high schools to instruct students on the benefits of breastfeeding. Were legislators embarrassed to talk about the benefits of breastfeeding? Did they think it’s not an appropriate topic for high schoolers? Are they mistakenly sexualizing the act of breastfeeding? Why exactly was that provision shot down?

The revised bill (PDF) is a far cry from the progressive legislation originally proposed, but at least it would exempt breastfeeding from the state’s indecent exposure law.

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