“Mod­est” and “Discreet”

Those are two words that cause many breast­feed­ing moms to cringe.  Breast­feed­ing is a sen­si­tive topic for many women.  It is also one of those top­ics that can be eas­ily sen­sa­tion­al­ized.  How many tv news reports have you seen about the lat­est breast­feed­ing study, the lat­est for­mula study, or some sort of extreme breast­feed­ing behav­ior?  It def­i­nitely makes news.

It has been mak­ing news quite a bit in North Dakota in the past month or so.  North Dakota is one of a small hand­ful of states that does not have a law to sup­port a mother’s right to breast­feed in pub­lic.  There is a bill which has passed House and is wait­ing to be heard in the Sen­ate.  Great, right?  End of post.

Unfor­tu­nately, no.  The bill which was intro­duced pro­tected a woman’s right to breast­feed in pub­lic and gave women the right to pump on work breaks.  After mov­ing through com­mit­tee and being heard in the leg­is­la­ture, the bill was changed.  It now allows a woman to breast­feed in pub­lic in a “mod­est and dis­creet” fashion.

There are those who think that we should take what we can get.  Not every­one under­stands nurs­ing or nurs­ing in pub­lic.  This might be the best that we can do.  We should sup­port it because some­thing is bet­ter than noth­ing is what they are say­ing.  Unfor­tu­nately, the bill as it stands now doesn’t pro­vide the pro­tec­tion and sup­port a breast­feed­ing bill should pro­vide.  What is mod­est?  What is dis­creet?  Is pub­lic nurs­ing itself immod­est?  Should a mom be required to wear a nurs­ing tank top?  Should the mom and baby have to be cov­ered with a blan­ket?  Should the mother be fac­ing away from the room or any peo­ple who might walk past?  Should the mother be using the bath­room?  Who defines mod­est and dis­creet?  Is it the mother, the busi­ness owner, the leg­is­la­ture, or in an extreme sit­u­a­tion the police?

Let me be clear that while I think the words mod­est and dis­creet are inap­pro­pri­ate for a breast­feed­ing bill, I do not think that women should actively work to be immod­est or inde­screet.  Women should be focused on their babies and the needs of their hun­gry chil­dren.  Breast­feed­ing is not a show nor is it a lewd act when done out­side of one’s house.  It is an act of par­ent­ing and a mother choos­ing to feed her child.

I do not think that the North Dakota leg­is­la­ture should pass some­thing that is as open to inter­pre­ta­tion and unclear as this bill is in its cur­rent state.  It is a dis­ap­point­ment to say the least, and it does not do much (if any­thing) to sup­port moth­ers or babies.