Doylestown Considering Breastfeeding Ordinance
Council president Det Ansinn asked his colleagues to protect the rights of women to breastfeed in public.
The U.S. Surgeon General says breast milk is the best source of nutrition for babies.
So does the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Dietetic Association and plenty of other public health groups.
In Pennsylvania, women have the legal right to breastfeed in public. But just because it's state law doesn't mean that all businesses uphold the law, as any nursing mother who has been asked to go to the bathroom knows.
At the end of Monday night's meeting, Doylestown Borough Council president Det Ansinn asked his colleagues to look into drafting an ordinance that would make it illegal for Doylestown businesses to infringe on a woman's right to breastfeed.
"We want to protect women who breastfeed their children in town," Ansinn said. "It’s a public health issue. (Breastfeeding) is permitted by law, and we want to make sure that our businesses and public places are following the law."
Ansinn asked the council's community and governmental affairs committee to look into drafting an ordinance that would make it illegal for businesses to infringe on a mother's right to breastfeed in public. Council member Marlene Pray, who chairs the committee, said she would look into it.
The move was not motivated by any particular recent incident, Ansinn said, but by anecdotal stories that women have been "kicked out of restaurants, or asked to go to the bathroom" when breastfeeding.
"This is a concern, and it’s a concern for the public health," he said. "It feels like something we should be doing."
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 45 states have laws specifically allowing women to breastfeed in any public or private location. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are among them.
In April, one northwestern city took those protections a step farther. The city of Seattle passed an ordinance making it illegal for a business to ask a mother to leave or to cover herself or the baby while feeding.
And the new federal healthcare legislation enacted protections for employees who need to pump breast milk for their babies. The new law requires that businesses and institutions provide "a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk."
Any ordinance that the Doylestown committee drafts would come before the committee and the full council for review before a final vote.
Heather Walton
7:57 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
A letter to area businesses explaining the PA Law should suffice. (Yes, I breastfed both my children.) Pedestrian Safety is more important of an over-all issue for this community.
kevin
8:01 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
while i have no problem with someone wanting to breast feed in public, i do have a problem with government at any level telling any business they can no longer choose who to serve. It's not your right to be in kmart or a pizza place.
Barney Sloan
12:03 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
We do not need more ordinances to enforce. We are already becoming a police state. Send a letter to all businesses telling them of the state law.
neighbor
12:14 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Yay Doylestown and Thank You Det Ansinn -
People milk is for people and cow's milk is for cows - when an infant is hungry there is no telling them to wait 10 minutes - they don't understand the concept of patience and waiting
neighbor
1:11 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Mr. Ansinn since we are talking babies and babies grow into toddlers and preschoolers, I was wondering if I could put in a request on behalf of all the mom's I know. Would it be possible in the very near future to change the footing in the Wood Street playground? The rubber footing turns EVERYTHING black - skin and clothing and it does not come out of the clothing - it gets under their fingernails - it's really rather disgusting considering the fact that teenagers hide there and smoke and dump their butts and other paraphernelia.
Thank you in advance for the consideration
Mary191
3:22 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
it's already legal.... sounds like Mr Ansinn doesn't have enough to do.
megan williams
9:22 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
While I agree with those who feel this ordinance shouldn't be necessary, it is. Thank you to Doylestown Borough Council for discussing a way to strengthen breastfeeding rights in our town. Current PA law does NOT protect breastfeeding employees in Doylestown, and it while it "permits" women to breastfeed in most public spaces, it provides no remedy, no enforcement mechanism, no redress whatsoever to a woman who is asked to cover up, stop feeding her baby or to move to another location. Unless and until our legislature strengthens or changes the law, the only action a woman can take if she is told to stop nursing in Doylestown, is to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit. Not only would this be costly and time-consuming for any mother to do, there is no guarantee her case would even be heard in the court of common pleas. I really hope Doylestown adopts a strongly-worded ordinance that provides a simple and straightforward mechanism for women to follow if they are wrongly asked to stop nursing. I also agree that more education about the civil rights, public health and maternal/child health benefits of breastfeeding should come out of this process. As a nursing mother and resident of the Borough, I am committed to working with our local council to help make that happen. Thank you for reading.
Jeff Lugar
11:48 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
There is a "simple and straightforward mechanism for women to follow if they are wrongly asked to stop nursing"—tell whoever asked you to move that state law allows it and continue what you're doing.
Jane
10:42 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Ansinn says the law is based not on demonstrated need, but on "anecdote." That's a poor basis of law and a wasteful use of public employees' time. Many businesses in Doylestown don't have a lot of space to spare, and a general right to breastfeed (or to act in myriad other lawful manners) in public shouldn't be a default right to park in a store and do so regardless of crowd, safety, blocking an exit or anything else. If, instead of anecdote, we had a history of intrusions or problems we could legislate based on, that would be one thing, but this sort of shot in the dark is bad lawmaking I can't support.
Loslobos
6:54 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
@ Jeff L. We had an incident not long ago in Doylestown. We asked a "local" business at ADay if it' was ok to nurse. They said yes and then after 10 minutes, they asked us to leave. We stated the law and they decided to take pictures with their phone. Police were called and they also asked us to leave as we were being a nuisance. Let me quote this " we were a bugle player standing in this ladies business, just move on, it's not a big deal." the officer stated this after we told them she allowed us to " take a seat make your self comfortable"
So from that experience this law needs to be passed as the police felt that this was a non issue. .
Aliza Bancoff
10:43 pm on Monday, July 23, 2012
This is a very important issue and I applaud Ansinn for addressing it, thank you thank you thank you!!
Rhonda
11:48 am on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
I am proud of Doylestown for being in the vanguard of this huge public health issue. Such an ordinance not only encourages the norm shift from bottle feeding to nursing (which is healthier for both baby AND mother), but also will be a draw for young families into the borough and will encourage mothers to spend their money in Doylestown's shops. As a breastfeeding mother, I know I will spend more time and money in Doylestown if the ordinance passes.