Nursing Moms Must Leave, but Wet T-Shirt Contest Goes On at Restaurant
In the race to the bottom on barring women from breast feeding in public places, a reader pointed out the a recent such dustup at The Hoover House Restaurant in West Branch, Iowa.
A mother tried to nurse her 8-month-old at the restaurant and was asked to either move to the restroom, cover herself more or leave.
This particular incident is notable for two reasons. First, the restaurant’s actions were possibly illegal. In 2000, Iowa passed a law stating that, “A woman may breast-feed the woman’s own child in any public place where the woman’s presence is otherwise authorized.” According to the Des Moines Register, 25 states have such laws protecting breast feeding women.
Second, this particular restaurant apparently has a history of holding wet t-shirt contests, so why they are suddenly offended by semi-exposed breasts is something of a mystery.
As in the Houston mall case earlier this year, about 13 women decided to hold a “nurse-in” at the restaurant in response to the incident.
Sources:
Nursing mom asked to leave. Mark Quiner, DesMoines Register, July 13, 2004.
No charge being pursued in breast-feeding dispute. Erin Jordan, DesMoines Register, July 20, 2004.
Leaders recall law’s intent. Deidre Bello, Iowa Press-Citizen, July 17, 2004.
Breast-feeding law needs to be followed. Editorial, Iowa Press-Citizen, July 17, 2004.
The Nursing Moms Must Leave, but Wet T-Shirt Contest Goes On at Restaurant by Brian Carnell, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Tags: Uncategorized
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.