Idaho lawmakers are considering exempting breastfeeding from the state’s public obscenity and indecent exposure laws.
Idaho is currently the only state in the country not to have some kind of protection for mothers who breastfeed in public, despite women reporting the second-highest rate of breastfeeding in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
49 other states have specific laws making it legal to breastfeed in public, as do Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
State Rep. Paul Amador (R-Coeur d'Alene) points to scientific studies showing breastfeeding strengthens the bond between a mother and her child.
“I also believe the health and nutritional choices of our families are best left as decisions for families, not our government,” Amador says.
Amador says any law standing in the way of promoting the healthy development of children needs to be changed.
A similar attempt to add a breastfeeding exemption in 2003 never passed, according to the Spokesman Review.
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to introduce Amador’s bill Monday. It now faces a full committee hearing.
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