PEDIATRICS Vol. 94 No. 4 October 1994, pp. 536
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FLORIDA APPROVES MEASURE ON RIGHT TO BREAST-FEED IN PUBLIC

J. F. L. MD

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 3—In an action that is being hailed by women's and health groups as an important symbolic victory, the Florida Legislature has enacted what is apparently the first state measure guaranteeing women the right to breast-feed their children in public.

By a unanimous vote, the Florida Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that amends the state's statutes on indecent exposure, lewd and lascivious behavior and obscenity to exempt and protect nursing mothers from arrest or harassment by law-enforcement or private security officials.

The bill also endorses breast-feeding as the preferred method of nurturing an infant and condemns "the vicious cycle of embarrassment and ignorance" and "archaic and outdated moral taboos" surrounding the practice.

The measure has been praised by organizations like La Leche League, a breast-feeding advocacy group, which describes it as the first instance in the nation of a state's codifying support for breast-feeding.