By Rachel La Corte
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA — Washington state is joining dozens of other states in protecting the rights of mothers who breast-feed their children in public places like movie theaters, parks and shopping malls.
The new law, which takes effect Sunday, builds on a 2001 law that exempted breast-feeding from public indecency laws.
But until now, nothing prevented businesses from asking women to leave or to cover up while breast-feeding.
Kim Rechner, a 42-year-old mother of two, said she was breast-feeding while waiting for her car at a tire store when she was told by an employee that she needed to do it in the bathroom, an experience she said was humiliating.
“You certainly do not feel like you’re doing anything shameful by feeding your child, and yet you are made to feel as though what you are doing is inappropriate,” said Rechner, a registered nurse who lives in Olympia. “And that’s really sad.”
Rep. Tami Green, the Tacoma Democrat who sponsored the bill, said the new law will help “jump start the culture of change.
“Women should feel as comfortable to sit down and breast-feed their child as they would be pulling a bottle out of the diaper bag,” she said.
Educate public
Kimberly Radtke, program coordinator for the Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington, said she hopes the law educates people who feel uncomfortable when they see women nurse their children.
“It’s not just that women are asked to go somewhere else or are asked to stop, it’s those looks and glares that women have to deal with, people looking at them or rolling their eyes,” she said.
“The reality is young babies need to eat frequently, and you need to feed that baby when you’re out and about.”
Laura Lindstrand, a civil rights specialist with the state’s Human Rights Commission, said the agency plans to make wallet cards with information on the new law that women can carry with them.
If a woman is asked to leave or cover up because she’s breast-feeding, Lindstrand said the expectation is that once a woman shows the card, “we’re hoping that will diffuse the situation at that point.”
If it doesn’t, a complaint can be filed with the commission, which will then investigate and try to settle it.
If several attempts at mediation fail, Lindstrom said a complaint can then be filed to the state attorney general’s office.
“We do not anticipate that there will be many cases brought,” she said.
“We hope through an educational campaign, and through the wallet cards, that any such cases would be diffused.”
More than 40 other states have laws protecting a mother’s right to breast-feed in public.
With their focus on patching a $9 billion deficit, lawmakers had little time to focus on non-budget related bills like the breast-feeding one, but in all, more than 580 bills were passed this year.
An “everything but marriage” measure that gives gay and lesbian couples all the state-provided benefits that married heterosexual couples have may be postponed by an attempt to overturn it.
The law expands on previous Washington state domestic partnership laws by adding such partnerships to all remaining areas of state law where currently only married couples are mentioned.
The statutes range from adoption and child support rights and obligations to pensions and other public employee benefits.
The referendum campaign needs to collect about 121,000 valid voter signatures by Saturday to make the fall ballot, and supporters have made an appointment to turn in their signatures on Saturday afternoon.
If supporters keep their appointment, state officials said it will take several days to determine whether they collected enough signatures.
If so, the law will be delayed until the outcome of the November election.
Also starting this weekend, convicted felons will be able to reregister to vote once they’re no longer on parole or probation.
The new law eases the restoration of voting rights for felons who are no longer in Washington state custody but owe court-ordered fines and restitution.
The new law removes the requirement that felons must pay off all those debts before their rights are restored.
However, under the new law, voting rights could be revoked if a felon willingly fails to make regular payments on those financial obligations.
Other laws
Other laws that take effect Sunday:
• A requirement that Washington-labeled wines have at least 95 percent of the grapes used in the production of the wine be grown in the state.
Under current rules, the liquor control board allows a wine to be labeled with a note of its origin if at least 75 percent of its volume is derived from both fruit or other agricultural products grown in the place or region indicated.
• Prohibition of gun ownership for mentally ill people who have been involuntarily committed for two weeks or more. Under current law, the firearm prohibition only applies to people who receive a 90-day or 180-day involuntarily treatment for mental health. The law applies to both adults and youths.
• A measure that toughens and clarifies state law concerning sexual misconduct by school employees requires teachers, janitors and bus drivers to register as sex offenders if they are found guilty of having sex with students who are 18.
The measure also applies to a foster parent who has sex with a foster child who is at least 16.
The new law is in response to a ruling earlier this year by a three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals, which said that Washington state law does not bar teachers from having consensual sex with 18-year-old students.
