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.
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