Persuasive Essay On Breastfeeding In Public

Breastfeeding in public has become a controversy regarding letting nursing mothers feed their child in public and private settings such as restaurants. Even though the law protects mothers, stating they are allowed to breastfeed anywhere without being told to leave, some nursing mothers are being told to leave the premises because of the act of breastfeeding being considered too inappropriate for an establishment. An organization, When Nurture Calls, has developed posters and has placed them inside of women’s restrooms to illustrate how some mothers feel in a stall after they have been forced to leave an establishment to breastfeed. When
Nurture Calls is fighting for restaurants and other private institutions to stop forcing nursing mothers to
leave while breastfeeding, believing these institutions should follow the law that protects women from these types of discrimination. While the organization is fighting for the rights of nursing mothers, some establishments have been breaking the law to create an appropriate environment without women breastfeeding. McDonald's has been known to pressure women into leaving their restaurants because they feel that breastfeeding is too inappropriate and disregard the law.
When Nurture Calls is fighting alongside the law by supporting nursing mothers who breastfeed in public or in a private setting, while McDonald's has broken the law on multiple occasions by forcing mothers to leave their restaurants when they begin to breastfeed.
The compromise that should be taken place is that McDonald's should follow the law and not
Garcia-Ramos 2 pressure mothers to leave their restaurant because they may be faced with lawsuits for not following the federal law.
The problem that is occurring to mothers today is that breastfeeding is being seen as an inappropriate act that should not be done in some establishments and some mothers are being pressured to go to the restrooms to continue breastfeeding or simply leave the establishment.
Some restaurants and stores are breaking the law by pressuring nursing women to leave to go to a restroom so fellow customers could feel more comfortable or forcing the mothers to leave the setting and accusing them of indecent exposure. In 2014, When Nurture Calls started the campaign to support and protect a mother’s right to breastfeed her child anywhere, even in public, without harassment from the public. The campaign was brought forth after the BH
1706 bill was dismissed, a bill that would have protected mothers from harassment and refusal of service in public if they chose to breastfeed (Haro and Wenske). The campaign’s main goal is to educate the female public about the harassment nursing mothers might feel when breastfeeding in public. It also focuses on giving the female audience a look into the emotions that might be going through the mother’s minds when they are forced to go to a private setting, usually the restroom, and nurture their young. When Nurture Calls has provided the message that nursing mothers should not be forced to breastfeed in restrooms and illustrate the sadness that women feel by being ridiculed for feeding their young. Instead of following the law or supporting it, some McDonald's restaurants have been sued for forcing nursing mothers to leave their restaurants because they believe that breastfeeding is an act that should not be performed in their setting (Chase). Since McDonald’s is a restaurant that caters to individuals but have a large clientele of families with little children, some of their restaurants believe a women should not
Garcia-Ramos 3 nurse in front of the other customers for the fear of them becoming uncomfortable. This is why they have had lawsuits for breaking the law by forcing nursing mothers to leave their restaurants.
Even though every McDonald’s is a privately own establishment and have the right to their property, forcing a mother who is breastfeeding to leave their establishment is against the law and even private property must follow it since it is an established federal law that affects all fifty states. McDonald’s is legally in the wrong and has no legal reason to neither pressurenursing mothers to the bathroom nor force them out of their restaurants. When Nurture Calls is supporting the law and spreading the message that women must not be pressured into a public restroom to breastfeed. If an establishment has a problem with a woman breastfeeding, legally they cannot interfere with the nursing process but I believe they can ask if the mother could cover up but not force them to leave. Every establishment should follow the law to avoid lawsuits and to be legally correct, but asking a nursing mothers to cover up while breastfeeding seems appropriate enough; letting the mother nurse while still giving her the right to stay in the establishment. The compromise that some restaurants and some stores should follow the law seems like the logical solution to these problems that some mothers are facing. McDonald’s should start following the law and be in support of public breastfeeding just like When Nurture Calls is.