Breast-feeding is like smoking

From Broadsheet

Some nursing moms pump breast milk at work, right in their cubicles. But the search for a private place to pump on the job can all too often lead to the bathroom stall.

So we're heartened to hear about a bill in Colorado that would give lactating mothers and their babies a break -- literally. The measure, which has passed the state House and is now under consideration in the state Senate, would call for two breaks for moms to either breast-feed or pump milk, in addition to their regular lunch break. It also requires businesses to set aside a private location for breast-feeding moms, according to the Daily Sentinel. Bathroom stalls would not qualify as lactation rooms. State Sen. Deanna Hanna, D-Lakewood, who spearheaded the bill, said that she doesn't want to burden Colorado employers, but that businesses should accommodate breast-feeding mothers as they have done with smokers.

Hanna's breast-feeding/smoking accommodations comparison seems like a good tactic. Really, most employers have some sort of outside accommodations for smokers, and many even provide special fancy "butt-hiding" ashtrays (like the ones outside the Pitt law school, I believe), shelter, benches, etc., which means that an employer is spending money on these accommodations and allowing smokers the break time to go out and have a cigarette -- all for something that is not exactly an activity that promotes their workers' health. Meanwhile, pumping breast milk is an activity that actually promotes the health of two human beings...but let's just make 'em sit on the toilet and do it.

Apparently other states have already implemented similar laws -- Minnesota, Tennessee, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Texas (really?!) and Washington (yay WA!) -- but it's nice that someone from Colorado (the state that gave us Satan's little helper, Marilyn Musgrave) is pushing for this legislation.