Advocacy & Empowerment

To protect your rights, know your rights!

State Legislation to Protect Breastfeeding

The National Conference of State Legislatures has a summary of breastfeeding laws in all 50 states. Learn more about current breastfeeding laws in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.

Proposed Federal Legislation: Breastfeeding Promotion Act

While state action in support of breastfeeding is helpful, a federal law protecting the right to breastfeed is needed. Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney and Congressman Christopher Shays introduced the Breastfeeding Promotion Act (HR 2236) in 2007.

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act seeks to:

amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding women from being fired or discriminated against in the workplace
provide tax incentives for businesses that establish private lactation areas in the workplace
provide for a performance standard for breast pumps
allow breastfeeding equipment to be tax deductible for families

Contact your congressional representatives and ask them to support this bill! To find contact information for your representatives, visit www.congress.org.

How You Can Help

If you have experienced problems breastfeeding in public, please let us know. If you would like to become a local advocate for breastfeeding, with the subject heading Breastfeeding Advocate.

Last Updated May 2010