Women stage ‘nurse-in’ to protest city’s breastfeeding law

A nurse-in in Forest Park, Georgia. Screenshot: WSB-TV

The city hall in Forest Park, Georgia, was the scene of a “nurse-in” on Monday, when over 100 breastfeeding women showed up to protest a recent city ordinance curbing some public breastfeeding.

The “lactivists” took particular issue with part of a new public indecency ordinance that positively made an exception for breastfeeding, but only for babies under 2 years old. The women said that the law was overly restrictive for those that practice “self-weaning” — meaning that the child, not the parent, decides when mommy is no longer a food source, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The nurse-in was organized by two women, Jessica Lister and Elizabeth Zeigler, who set up a Facebook page to organize the event, stating that a “nurse-in would be appropriate to support breastfeeding/extended breastfeeding.” The pair also welcomed dads to attend the event as well.

Forest Park City Attorney Robert L. Mack, Jr., said in a statement that “the ordinance is aimed at ‘public nudity,’ not breastfeeding.” He added that the “breastfeeding of a baby is still permitted.”

Lister was quoted as saying that she believes the ordinance “limits a mother’s right to breastfeed her children” and that she follows “an attachment concept where you learn to bond with your child, and that is just promoted through breastfeeding.”

“I’m very passionate about breastfeeding,” Lister said.

The Forest Park city manager said that each part of the ordinance is under consideration for revision.