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Virginia Assembly passes public breastfeeding bill Radovanovich, Juliana . University Wire ; Carlsbad [Carlsbad]25 Feb 2015.

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ABSTRACT  

"The law says that no person can be denied entry into a public place based on race, religion, sex, age, national

origin or disability," Albo said.

FULL TEXT  

Publication: Cavalier Daily, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA.

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The Virginia General Assembly unanimously passed a bill enabling women to breastfeed in public. Breast feeding

is currently only permitted on property which is owned, leased or controlled by the Commonwealth, as well as

inside private homes.

The bill has yet to be signed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe. As of now, 46 other states have already changed their laws to

allow mothers to breastfeed publicly.

Abigail Fox, communication director for Sen. Barbara Favola, said Virginia has some "surprisingly antiquated laws"

which have yet to be rectified.

"Some things in this living document have somehow not been replaced," Fox said. "I don't know why it's taken this

long, but I'm glad that the Commonwealth is moving forward."

Senate sponsors for the bill included Senators Jennifer T. Wexton, John S. Edwards, Barbara. A. Favola and Linda

T. Puller. Fox said this bill goes beyond partisan political divisions in common defense of women.

"Sen. Vogel, Sen. Favola and Sen. Wexton are women, mothers, and agree that this is something that goes beyond

politics or the partisanship that sometimes colors the General Assembly," Fox said.

Delegate Dave Albo, R-42, said his constituents prompted him to support this bill and he found he agreed with

them. He said there has been relatively little controversy over passage of the bill.

"The law says that no person can be denied entry into a public place based on race, religion, sex, age, national

origin or disability," Albo said. "This adds breast feeding."

Many in the state were not aware breast feeding was not universally allowed in public spaces. Fourth-year College

student Mirenda Gwin said she was surprised that it hadn't been passed sooner.

"It seems to me that they should have passed it a long time ago, considering that breastfeeding is a natural part of

life," Gwin said.

Credit: Juliana Radovanovich

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Subject: Breastfeeding &lactation; Bills

Publication title: University Wire; Carlsbad

Publication year: 2015

Publication date: Feb 25, 2015

Section: News

Publisher: Uloop, Inc.

Place of publication: Carlsbad

Country of publication: United States, Carlsbad

Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals--United States

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 1657760978

Document URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1657760978?accountid=134061

Copyright: © 2015 UWIRE, a division of Uloop

Last updated: 2017-11-21

Database: ProQuest Central

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