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Florida Breastfeeding Law
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House bill no. HB 231 Fl. ALS 4; 1993 Fla. Laws ch. 4; 1993 Fla. HB 231 Fla. Stat. § 383.015, § 800.02 - 800.04, § 847.001 (later: § 827.071)
Subject: Encouraging breastfeeding and authorizing breastfeeding in public
1. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES/COMMENTS:
The bill would be an endorsement of the importance of Florida infants being breastfed and protect a mother’s right to breastfeed whenever and wherever she needs to. Increasing breastfeeding rates is an international, national and state health priority. Florida has among the lowest breastfeeding rates in the nation. A perceived major barrier for many women to breastfeeding is a fear of embarrassment in public. This bill would diminish those fears and make women more secure in their right to breastfeed. More Floridian mothers breastfeeding would lead to decreased infant morality and morbidity rates. Increased rates of breastfeeding among WIC infants would lead to significant financial savings, due to reduction in illness and associated physician visits, outpatient treatment and hospitalization.
Florida House of Representatives-1993 CS/HB 231
WHEREAS, the Surgeon General of the United States recommends that babies from birth to 1 year of age be breastfed, unless medically contraindicated, in order to attain an optimal healthy start, and
WHEREAS, despite the Surgeon General’s recommendation, statistics reveal a declining percentage of mothers who are choosing to breastfeed their babies, and
WHEREAS, nearly half of all new mothers are now choosing formula over breastfeeding before they even leave the hospital, only 20 percent are still breastfeeding when their babies are 6 months old, and only 6 percent are still breastfeeding when their babies are 1 year old, and
WHEREAS, the social constraints of modern society militate against the choice of breastfeeding and lead new mothers with demanding time schedules to opt for formula feeding for reasons such as embarrassment and the fear of social ostracism or criminal prosecution, and
WHEREAS, the promotion of family values and infant health demand putting an end to the vicious cycle of embarrassment and ignorance that constricts women and men alike on the subject of breastfeeding and represents hostility to mothers and babies in our culture based on archaic and outdated moral taboo, and
WHEREAS, any genuine promotion of family values should encourage public acceptance of this most basic act of nurture between mother and baby, and no mother should be made to feel incriminated or socially ostracized for breastfeeding her baby, NOW, THEREFORE,
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. The breastfeeding of a baby is an important and basic act of nurture which must be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child health and family values. A mother may breastfeed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether or not the nipple of the mother’s breast is covered during or incidental to the breastfeeding.
Florida Senate Bill #1668, 1994 FL ALS 217; 1994 Fla. Laws ch. 217; 1994 Fla. SB 1668
Fla. Stat. . § 363.318, § 383.015, § 383.016, § 383.311, § 383.318
The portion of this bill relating to employment provided as follows:
Section 6. Access to breast feeding for public-sector employees demonstration project.
The Legislature recognizes a mother's responsibility to her job and to her child when she returns to work and acknowledges that a woman's choice to breastfeed benefits the family, society-at-large, and the employer. There is established the access to breastfeeding for public sector employees demonstration project. The demonstration project shall be conducted to determine the benefits of, potential barriers to, and potential costs of implementing worksite breast feeding support policies for public-sector employees in the state.
(1) The demonstration project is established in the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and shall be administered by the State Health Officer.
(2) The department shall develop written policies supporting breast-feeding practices for the workplace which address issues including work schedule flexibility; scheduling breaks and work patterns to provide time for milk expression; provision of accessible locations allowing privacy; access nearby to a clean, safe water source and sink for washing hands and r e Legislature, And the chairmen of the appropriate substantive committees of the Legislature by December 1995. The report must include:
(a) A description of the draft worksheet breast feeding support policies developed;
(b) A description of the implementation of the worksheet breast feeding support policies in Dade County and any problems encountered;
(c) The extent of the utilization of any breast feeding or breast pumping facilities by department employees in Dade County;
(d) A survey of the satisfaction with such breast feeding or breast pumping facilities and worksheet breast feeding support policies by users and their supervisors in Dade County;
(e) The costs and benefits associated with the demonstration project in Dade County;
(f) A summary of issues rained by the districts; and
(g) A recommendation of any policy and program changes that need to be incorporated for statewide implementation and strategies for implementing the policy in other state agencies.
Another section of the bill created section 383.016 of the Florida Statutes, which provides for a breast-feeding encouragement policy for facilities providing maternity services and newborn infant care and authorizing use of "baby-friendly" designation. Various other sections of the bill amend numerous provisions of the law (amends sections 383.015, 383.011, 383.311, and 363.318 of the Florida Statutes) relating to breast feeding, administration of maternal and child health programs, education for birth center clients, and postpartum care for birth center clients, requiring encouragement of breastfeeding.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO BREASTFEED (click on Breastfeeding & the Law to read more)
In looking at legislation, first look at the language of the case of Dike v. Orange County School Board, 650 F.2d 783 (5th Cir., 1981) . This case sets forth that mothers have a constitutional right to breastfeed. In this case, a teacher wanted to nurse her baby on her duty free lunch break. The school claimed that insurance provisions prohibited teachers from bringing their children onto school property, and also prohibited teachers from leaving the school grounds during the day. The trial court ruled that the mother had no right to breastfeed. In Dike, the appeals court reversed the case and remanded it for a new trial, stating that breastfeeding is a protected constitutional right. "Breastfeeding is the most elemental form of parental care. It is a communion between mother and child that, like marriage, is intimate to the degree of being sacred," Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. at 486, 85 S. Ct. at 1682, 14 L. Ed. 2d at 516. "Nourishment is necessary to maintain the child's life, and the parent may choose to believe that breastfeeding will enhance the child's psychological as well as physical health. In light of the spectrum of interests that the Supreme Court has held specially protected we conclude that the Constitution protects from excessive state interference a woman's decision respecting breastfeeding her child." 650 F.2d at 787
Full text of Act introducted to Senate on 6-11-09 in pdf
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