Airport Protests Back Right to Breastfeed

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At more than 20 airports around the country, protests over breast-feeding, groups of women held what they call a nurse in to voice their displeasure about the removal of a woman who was breast feeding on a plane last month.

NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports.

KATHLEEN SCHALCH: Angie Totton(ph) came to the protest in Washington, D.C., with her son Neal. She was outraged by what happened to the nursing mother.

Ms. ANGIE TOTTON: I would have probably been very angry and raised my voice and probably gotten thrown off the plane because I would have been really angry.

SCHALCH: Totton and about 25 other mothers were clustered near the Delta ticket counter inside Reagan National Airport. They sat in chairs and cross-legged on the floor with babies planted across their laps, nursing them. For Sara Stevenson of Springfield, Virginia, breast feeding in public is a way of life.

Ms. SARA STEVENSON: I breast feed everywhere - and walking down the streets or stores, you name it - he's nursed there. And so, thankfully, I haven't had any problems but I definitely have heard of other people having problems.

SCHALCH: One of those people was Emily Gillette. Last month, Gillette was nursing her one-year-old on a Delta commuter flight from Berlington, Vermont. The plane was operated for Delta by Freedom Airlines. A flight attendant asked her to cover herself with a blanket. Gillette complained and was removed from the flight.

Ms. KRISTEN KING: She was embarrassed.

SCHALCH: Kristen King of Alexandria is a good friend of Gillette's. King was swaying side to side with her daughter Olivia on her hip, looking approvingly at the crowd of protesting mothers.

Ms. KING: As of Friday, some just said let's do a nurse-in and then it just spread from there on - all the Web sites that support breast-feeding and different groups online - just spread and now we're here.

SCHALCH: In Hartford, Connecticut seven mothers sat in a circle, breast-fed and talked. Laurence Kline happened to be there to pick up someone arriving for Thanksgiving. He said he had no qualms about women nursing in public.

Mr. LAURENCE KLINE: We're hypocritical in this society. We sell sex. We have it in advertising and we want to see breasts and then on the other hand when the women nurses a child some of us get upset with that so, I don't understand this at all.

SCHALCH: Delta airlines spokeswoman, Betsy Townsen(ph), says she agrees with the protestors that what happened on the plane, shouldn't have taken place.

Ms. BETSY TOWNSEN (Delta Airlines Spokeswoman): Delta absolutely supports a mother's right to breast feed her baby onboard our aircraft and we regret the decision to remove the passenger from flight 60160.

SCHALCH: Breast feeding in public is legal in Vermont and in many other states according to Jody Hats of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Ms. JODY HATS: As of now, we know that 37 states have laws allowing mothers to breast-feed in any public or private location.

SCHALCH: The women protesting today in Washington including Robin Avidido(ph) would like a national law as well.

Ms. ROBIN AVIDIDO: Last year, there was actually nursing on the Capital steps to support that. And so we're hoping that that is going to be something that is going to be receiving more attention with the new Congress, hopefully.

SCHALCH: A grandmother who passed today's protest, Deborah McEdward(ph) from Gainsville, Florida, agreed that this would be a good idea. She said she had a baby 20 years ago.

Ms. DEBORAH MCEDWARD: And nursing was just so awful. You had to sit in restrooms and it was just not right and this is great and I'm glad you're doing this publicly. Thank you very much.

SCHALCH: Airport authorities didn't seem putout either. A cluster of dark-uniformed police stood 20 feet away from the group looking around and smiling.

Kathleen Schalch, NPR news, Washington.

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