Good news for Massachusetts!

Massachusetts just got some good news. According to the Boston ABC affiliate:

"Some new protection may be coming for Massachusetts women who breastfeed. State law currently considers it a lewd act, but activists say it's only natural. NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that a House bill has passed and a similar bill has passed in the state Senate as well.
Currently in the state, women who breastfeed in public can be charged with indecent exposure or lewd behavior, and while police seldom press such charges, many mothers are often kicked out of restaurants, stores and movie theaters because they are breastfeeding. The new bill, if passed, would provide that in public places, such as stores or parks, women could not be prevented from breastfeeding or be asked to leave for doing so."

It amazes the two of us that there would need to be a law in place in any state, but as liberal-minded as Massachusetts would like people to think it is, it is not a breastfeeding friendly state. Massachusetts and West Virginia are the only states with no laws to protect breastfeeding. And almost all of the moms we know in the area have had a problem being asked to leave places. Salem even has a breastfeeding-friendly directory of places that will let you breastfeed on the property. We were given the advice to locate all federal property in the area because legally it is considered harassment to ask you to stop breastfeeding on federal property. (As a note, Salem with its many National Historic Sites has a lot of federal property.) Hopefully by the time our little one is born this will no longer be a concern.

If you aren't in Massachusetts and you are wondering what your state laws entail, you can find out here: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/breast50.htm#m