1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to health; encouraging breast-feeding; 
  1.3             exempting breast-feeding from indecent exposure; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 617.23; 
  1.5             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.6             chapter 145. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.] 
  1.9      The legislature finds and declares that there is 
  1.10  overwhelming evidence in the medical literature that babies be 
  1.11  breast fed, unless medically contraindicated, in order to attain 
  1.12  an optimal healthy start.  Despite such evidence, nearly 
  1.13  one-half of all new mothers are still choosing formula over 
  1.14  breast-feeding before they leave the hospital. 
  1.15     The legislature further finds and declares that breast milk 
  1.16  offers better nutrition, immunity, and digestion, and may raise 
  1.17  a baby's IQ.  In addition to other benefits such as improved 
  1.18  mother-baby bonding, its encouragement has been established as a 
  1.19  major goal of this decade by the World Health Organization and 
  1.20  UNICEF.  The social constraints of modern society militate 
  1.21  against the choice of breast-feeding and lead new mothers with 
  1.22  demanding time schedules to opt for formula feeding for reasons 
  1.23  such as embarrassment and the fear of social ostracism. 
  1.24     The promotion of family values and infant health demand 
  1.25  putting an end to the vicious cycle of embarrassment and 
  1.26  ignorance that constricts women and men alike in the subject of 
  2.1   breast-feeding and represents hostility to mothers and babies in 
  2.2   our culture based on archaic and outdated moral taboos.  Any 
  2.3   genuine promotion of family values should encourage public 
  2.4   acceptance of this most basic act of nurture between mother and 
  2.5   baby, and no mother should be made to feel socially ostracized 
  2.6   for breast-feeding her baby. 
  2.7      The legislature finally finds and declares that the 
  2.8   breast-feeding of a baby is an important and basic act of nature 
  2.9   which must be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child 
  2.10  health and family values. 
  2.11     Sec. 2.  [145.87] [BREAST-FEEDING.] 
  2.12     A mother may breast-feed her baby in any location, public 
  2.13  or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, 
  2.14  irrespective of whether the nipple of the mother's breast is 
  2.15  uncovered during or incidental to the breast-feeding. 
  2.16     Sec. 3.  [145.871] [FACILITIES; BREAST-FEEDING POLICY.] 
  2.17     It is recommended that a facility providing maternity 
  2.18  services or newborn infant care comply with the following 
  2.19  requirements.  The facility may: 
  2.20     (1) have a written breast-feeding policy; 
  2.21     (2) train all health care staff in the skills necessary to 
  2.22  implement this policy; 
  2.23     (3) inform all pregnant women about the benefits and 
  2.24  management of breast-feeding; 
  2.25     (4) help mothers who choose to breast-feed initiate 
  2.26  breast-feeding within half an hour of birth; 
  2.27     (5) teach mothers who choose to breast-feed how to 
  2.28  breast-feed and how to maintain lactation, even if separated 
  2.29  from their infants; 
  2.30     (6) give newborn infants of mothers who choose to 
  2.31  breast-feed no food or drink other than breast milk, unless 
  2.32  medically indicated; 
  2.33     (7) practice "rooming in" by allowing mothers and infants 
  2.34  to remain together 24 hours a day; 
  2.35     (8) encourage breast-feeding on demand for mothers who 
  2.36  choose to breast-feed; 
  3.1      (9) give no artificial teats or pacifiers to breast-feeding 
  3.2   infants; and 
  3.3      (10) encourage the establishment of breast-feeding support 
  3.4   groups and refer mothers who choose to breast-feed to them on 
  3.5   discharge from the hospital or clinic. 
  3.6      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 617.23, is 
  3.7   amended to read: 
  3.8      617.23 [INDECENT EXPOSURE; PENALTIES.] 
  3.9      (a) Every person who shall willfully and lewdly expose the 
  3.10  person's body, or the private parts thereof, in any public 
  3.11  place, or in any place where others are present, or shall 
  3.12  procure another to expose private parts, and every person who 
  3.13  shall be guilty of any open or gross lewdness or lascivious 
  3.14  behavior, or any public indecency other than hereinbefore 
  3.15  specified, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
  3.16     (b) A person is guilty of a gross misdemeanor if the person 
  3.17  violates this section after having been previously convicted of 
  3.18  violating this section, sections 609.342 to 609.3451, or a 
  3.19  statute from another state in conformity with any of those 
  3.20  sections. 
  3.21     (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a woman may 
  3.22  breast-feed in any public or private location where she is 
  3.23  otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether the nipple 
  3.24  of the mother's breast is uncovered during or incidental to the 
  3.25  breast-feeding.