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By Melissa Kotlen Nagin, About.com Guide to Breastfeeding

New York Mom Told To Stop Breastfeeding In State Museum

Monday April 14, 2008

On the heels of the Emily Gillette story, a mother was kicked out of a museum in New York for breastfeeding, which is a perfectly legal act. I recently received the following e-mail, and, as a breastfeeding advocate, I wanted to share it with you...

"Mothers continue to suffer discrimination and humiliation for breastfeeding, even though doctors recommend breastfeeding for all infants. Clearly we need Congress to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 3799) now--before more mothers are stigmatized and humiliated for breastfeeding.
But this Act is currently stalled in Congress, and isn't going to move forward without increased citizen pressure. You can supply that pressure.
CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSPERSON NOW: http://www.momsrising.org/CosponsorBreastfeedingAct
(And forward this email to friends now so they can take action too. All of our voices are needed to get the Breastfeeding Promotion Act moving forward).
MomsRising members have successfully raised awareness about the need to protect the rights of breastfeeding mothers in the past and can do it again. Last year, MomsRising members and other activists changed Delta Airlines corporate policies when a mother was kicked off a flight for breastfeeding.
We can harness this same power to push through the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, but we need your help contacting Congress. Let's support mothers who are nurturing and caring for the next generation of Americans. Those nursing babies may not be able to vote, but their mothers can!
Forward this email so your friends and family can contact their representatives too. It's going to take all of our voices, and then some to get this legislation moving forward. We need tens of thousands of messages to go to Congress supporting breastfeeding.
Here's that link again in case you need it: http://www.momsrising.org/CosponsorBreastfeedingAct
Thank you!
P.S. THE LOWDOWN ON THE BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION ACT: Representative Carolyn Maloney's Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 3799) would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect breastfeeding by new mothers by providing tax credits to employers who provide a place to breastfeed and/or provide breast pumps. This makes it a lot easier for women who want to give their babies breastmilk and keep their jobs. As you may know, 82% of American women become mothers by the time they are forty-four years old, so this issue is critically important to a large portion of our nation. To read the bill, visit The Library of Congress Website."

Let's make this happen! We can't continue to see these injustices!

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