Posted on 06/12/2007 10:02:27 PM PDT by Stoat
New Bill: Expectant and new mothers would be protected from discrimination
Nursing mothers will be allowed to breastfeed their babies wherever they like under new anti- discrimination laws announced yesterday.
Restaurants, cafes and shops which tried to ban them would face court action and fines of up to £2,500.
The move is a victory for pressure groups who have been asking for greater rights for mothers in the interests of better health for babies.
It will mean that mothers of children up to a year old will be able to feed them 'discreetly' in public - despite the misgivings of restaurant managers or the possible embarrassment of other diners.
The breakthrough for breastfeeding campaigners comes in a scheme for a sweeping new 'Single Equality Bill' designed to replace and streamline 40 years of legislation against prejudice.
The plans, outlined in a 190-page consultation paper from the Communities Department, include laws to curb bias against women at private clubs, new rules to try to ensure dignity for elderly people and 'balancing measures' to let police forces and other employers speed the careers of ethnic minority staff.
Mothers who breastfeed are regularly asked to leave business or public premises. In recent months, women have been asked to stop feeding and cover up in the National Gallery and Hampton Court palace in London.
Last month, the Mayor of Trafford in Greater Manchester, Dr Pauleen Lane, went to a tribunal after she was told she could not breastfeed in her official car.
In Scotland, however, it has been a criminal offence since 2005 to ban breastfeeding in cafes, restaurants, pubs, shops or public transport.
The maximum fine, £2,500, is likely to be followed in England and Wales, officials said yesterday.
The rules will be introduced as part of the Single Equality Bill by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, who is a longstanding supporter of breastfeeding.
As a junior member of the Government she took her third child Roisin, then three months old, on a parliamentary trip to Rome because she was breastfeeding her.
Campaigners said they were 'delighted' that the needs of nursing women out with their children had been recognised. But the National Childbirth Trust said the change should be extended to cover children more than a year old.
Rosie Dodds of the NCT said: "According to the latest survey, 13 per cent of women in England and 16 per cent in Wales have been asked to stop or made to feel uncomfortable when breastfeeding.
"We regularly receive calls from distressed mothers who have been told they can't breastfeed in restaurants or shops, or even in schools and health centres. It leaves them embarrassed, shocked and angry and it is time it stopped."
The consultation paper does not specifically mention breastfeeding, but ministers made clear that this would be the chief impact of new rules forbidding discrimination against pregnant women and mothers of babies.
Officials have no definition as yet of what 'discreetly' means. That will be decided when ministers assess the results of their consultation.
The consultation paper contains a raft of potentially controversial ideas. Police forces would be allowed to fast-track training for ethnic minority recruits.
Government bodies and local councils would, if the law goes through, be told that they must treat all religions equally.
The proposal could risk constitutional arguments because the Church of England remains the established state religion, and the head of state, the Queen, is its Supreme Governor.
But the consultation paper said councils will merely be told they should give equal support to voluntary groups from different religions.
The paper also proposes specialised discrimination courts - local county courts with judges trained in discrimination law.
There was criticism of the new plans from some groups - notably feminists disappointed at the lack of new laws on greater wage equality and organisations for the elderly who said measures against age discrimination should go further.
But ministers say a key aim is to simplify the law, to protect people rather than create extra bureaucracy.
The new anti-discrimination laws affects many different groups. To see if you're among them scroll down for more...
THE ELDERLY
New laws are likely to try to protect the dignity of vulnerable older people, both at home and in care homes. The idea follows six years of the Daily Mail's Dignity for the Elderly campaign.
Discrimination in goods and services against older people would also be banned - for example, banks would no longer be able to deny a credit card to a solvent person over 65 just because of their age.
But there would be some exemptions - there would be no block on companies providing holidays aimed specifically at over-55s or youth groups.
POLICE AND THE NHS
Police forces will be able to give favoured treatment to ethnic minority recruits under new 'balancing measures'.
The NHS will be allowed to open special facilities for gays and lesbians and ethnic minority groups to target illness and diseases particular prevalent among them.
But the consultation paper insists that this remains 'positive action' and does not cross the line into employment quotas or 'positive discrimination' that would mean minority members would be preferred for jobs and services over others.
AT THE GOLF CLUB
Private clubs with more than 25 members will no longer be able to discriminate on grounds of gender.
At the moment, golf clubs can ban women from their courses or clubhouses at popular times such as weekends and limit their rights to play.
Some stop women members joining management committees. Working men's clubs also often give women second-class status.
But single-sex clubs, for men or women, will still be allowed to exclude members of the opposite sex.
THE DISABLED
Landlords will be unable to refuse to put in facilities such as wheelchair ramps or stairlifts which help disabled tenants get in and out of buildings and public areas inside them, such as lounges.
The consultation paper says disabled people should not be forced into isolation because they cannot easily move outside their homes.
The new law is likely to affect large numbers of buy-to-let owners. But the cost of alterations will have to be met by the disabled tenants who ask for them, the paper said.
GENDER SWOPS
Britain's estimated 5,000 transsexuals will be brought under the umbrella of anti-discrimination laws.
The planned changes would prevent any public body treating transsexuals differently from other people and stop anyone denying them goods or services.
Religious organisations will have an exemption, however, to allow them to exclude transsexuals from jobs on doctrinal grounds. Sports will also be able to ban transsexuals from matches or events reserved for single-sex competitors.
the last of my five is now 6 months and so all this will be strictly as an observer
I really love everything to do with pregnancy and birth....I will miss that being a part of my life as it has been for almost 20 years now.
I find myself very empathetic and appreciatve of pregnant women and moms with babies...
I believe some of the best my wife ever looked was at 5-7 months along and then nursing later...it’s not just a cliche about that glow and all that...they it may just be fullness and all that extra blood exaggerating lips and giving that healthy Raphaelite aura...it’s also about how God creates life thru us and I love it..
not in an exploitative way, it was just so encouraging maybe....life coming along and then brand new being nurtured....it’s times like that and folks like me know why I am here
which btw....means I better wake and feed number 5 unless now unless I want him waking at 4-5 hongree!...I’m the night owl around here this last time outta the gate
Apparently, the state of Florida led the charge on this in the United States:
SUMMARY OF ENACTED BREASTFEEDING LEGISLATION
FLORIDA
Florida led the nation by enacting the first comprehensive breastfeeding legislation in the United States. The legislation not only exempted breastfeeding from criminal statutes, but created a new law that stated this important and basic act of nurture must be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child health. Finally, it provides for a breast-feeding encouragement policy for facilities providing maternity services and newborn infant care.
Fla. Stat. Ann. § 383.015
1993 Fl. ALS 4; 1993 Fla. Laws ch. 4; 1993 Fla. HB 231The breast feeding of a baby is an important and basic act of nurture which must be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child health and family values. A mother may breast feed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether or not the nipple of the mother's breast is covered during or incidental to the breast feeding.
‘When that starts happening, I think that we should stop ALL immigration to the USA except for non-Muslims from Great Britain, so that they might have an opportunity to escape what has become a seething cauldron of total insanity.’
Errr, whilst us Brits appreciate your generous offer, why would we want to move to a country with a helluva lot more muslims than we have, the ACLU, open borders and a dem govt? Our muslim immigration only amounts to 1.7m over 50 years and is declining rapidly - do you know how many muslims you have? How many wondered across the border last night? I know you guys like to read tabloid stories about how muslims run Britain, but it just ain’t so. After a century of immigration Britain is still 93% white anglo saxon celtic christian and our largest immigrant group in the past 5 years is Polish catholics. Rather than a seething cauldron of insanity as you put it, we are a conservative christian country with a low immigrant population and fairly secure borders. You only see the news report version of Britain, not the real thing.
Don’t think I am criticising the US - I have great admiration for your country, but I genuinely think you have bigger problems than we do in the area of immigration and the structure of your govt and constitution makes it harder for you to do anything about it.
Sorry Britmp, everyone on FR knows the truth.
Britain is like the last reel of “Dawn of the Dead”, with you, me and the other British FReepers living in a shopping mall desperately holding off the Zombies with our chainsaws.
That in itself would be interesting to see, a Muslim woman publicly breastfeeding.
How about singing the blues and cable TV?
‘Britain is like the last reel of “Dawn of the Dead”, with you, me and the other British FReepers living in a shopping mall desperately holding off the Zombies with our chainsaws.’
AG, I do hope you are not implying our erstwhile American cousins savour a less than accurate impression of Britain in order console themsleves about their own countries failings!
I must admit, I was amazed that this thread managed to get from breastfeeding to muslim in two posts! :)
You’d almost think us Brits have a bigger muslim problem than America does!
God bless you. That’s the only drawback of breastfeeding, being the only one on feeding duty.
that's true...my wife would only sleep in 2-3 hour spurts at night....now as an older dad for the last time and with the economic felxibility I'm blessed wtih, I'm very involved...and enjoy it actually
Actually, no I didn't "put it" that way. My post was in response to Aria's "Errr...how long until breastfeeding in public is changed because the Muslims might be offended and riot?"
The key phrase in my post was "When that starts happening"", which to most folks means that it hasn't happened. Therefore it should be apparent that since the situation has not happened, it does not reflect my perspective of things at the present time This was obviously a hyperbolic, tongue-in-cheek exchange and was not a reflection of anyone's actual perception of the current state of affairs in Great Britain. It's unfortunate that you've taken my words out of context and then used them as an excuse to engage in the tired old stereotyping of the ignorant Americans who know nothing of the world around them and believe everything that's in the Brit tabloids. Please don't be so eager to take offense when no disrespect was expressed or even remotely implied.
Please speak for yourself. Your statement of "us over here" includes neither me nor anyone I know.
Please speak for yourself. Your statement of "us over here" includes neither me nor anyone I know. Post #33)
Jesus, pal, read your own writing. (P.S. No reply is required).
I hope you guys understand that it’s hard for us over here to get accurate info and opinions about what is going on over there. Your FReeper brother and sister over here will be counting on you guys to let us know what’s up.
You're entirely welcome to characterize yourself as being in need of anonymous internet posters to assist you in formulating your knowledge and opinion base, and in so doing contribute to the comic-book caricature that some Brits have of "us dumb, provincial Yanks" but I know no other Americans who "count on you guys" (internet posters) "to let us know what's up". Although I'm interested in what Brits (and everyone else) online has to say, I don't "find it hard to get accurate info" at all, because I have traveled extensively and have a multitude of British and other European friends that I visit and correspond with regularly.
What you say about yorself is entirely your affair, but when you take it upon yourself to speak for others, then you need to expect for others to have a reaction to what you say if you grossly mischaracterize them.
You, sir, are a FReeper after my own heart.
Breast-feeding is, I understand from my sister and mommy friends, a wonderful and beautiful thing. But all my friends with kids know how to feed said kids without showing me what they usually reserve for their husbands and the mammogram guy.
Awwww.....(((((BLUSHING PROFUSELY))))))
I don't suppose you have an unmarried sister, by any chance? :-)
Breast-feeding is, I understand from my sister and mommy friends, a wonderful and beautiful thing. But all my friends with kids know how to feed said kids without showing me what they usually reserve for their husbands and the mammogram guy.
Agreed on all counts. Although I'm confident that the vast majority of women will use great discretion when engaged in this honored activity, there will always be some whose upbringing doesn't include courtesy for others, as evidenced by post #19.
You really need to get a life pal.
Just mothers? What about wetnurses?
Oh, so does "getting a life" mean sitting idly by while other people insult you, as you have done to me?
Sorry, maybe you enjoy having other people mischaracterize yourself as well as your country, but I certainly don't.
And when I make a mistake, I am quick to apologize and make amends. I don't waste other people's time with juvenile, bumper-sticker one-liners like "get a life".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.