July 17, 2008 at 7:59 am Comments (0)
H.R. 2236 Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2007
Forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands already have enacted various laws protecting breastfeeding mothers but they are not uniform and most are not comprehensive. We are asking you to support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2007 to provide a unified national policy to keep mothers, their children and their communities healthy.
The Breastfeeding Promotion Act includes four provisions:
- Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding women from being fired or discriminated against in the workplace
- Provides tax incentives for businesses that establish private, lactation areas in the workplace
- Provides for a performance standard to ensure breast pumps are safe and effective
- Allows breastfeeding equipment and lactation services to be tax deductible for families
It is great that someone is attempting to pass such a bill — although it doesn’t cover paid maternity leave, it is a great start for better breastfeeding/maternal work conditions. If you support this, please Congresswoman Maloney (D-NY) here: http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_email_form&Itemid=73.