HOUSE AMENDED PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 67, 893, 1045 PRINTER'S NO. 1252
No. 34 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY C. WILLIAMS, COSTA, MUSTO, BOSCOLA, FONTANA, FOLMER, WOZNIAK, WASHINGTON AND MELLOW, FEBRUARY 7, 2007
AS AMENDED ON SECOND CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 28, 2007
AN ACT
1 Permitting a mother the freedom to nurse her child in public;
2 and providing that breastfeeding may not be considered a <--
3 nuisance, indecent exposure, sexual conduct or obscenity; AND <--
4 PROVIDING FOR A PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
8 Freedom to Breastfeed Act.
9 Section 2. Declaration of policy.
10 The General Assembly finds that breastfeeding a baby is an
11 important and basic act of nurturing that must be protected in
12 the interests of maternal and child health and family values.
13 Section 3. General rule.
14 A mother shall be permitted to breastfeed her child in any
15 location, public or private, where the mother and child are
16 otherwise authorized to be present, irrespective of whether or
17 not the mother's breast is covered during or incidental to the
1 breastfeeding. 2 Section 4. Freedom to breastfeed. 3 The act of breastfeeding shall not be considered: 4 (1) Indecent exposure as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3127 5 (relating to indecent exposure). 6 (2) Open lewdness as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 5901 7 (relating to open lewdness). 8 (3) Obscenity or sexual conduct as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. 9 § 5903 (relating to obscene and other sexual materials and 10 performances). 11 (4) A nuisance as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 6504 (relating 12 to public nuisances). 13 SECTION 5. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. <-- 14 A WOMAN WHOSE FREEDOM TO BREASTFEED, AS PROVIDED IN THIS ACT, 15 HAS BEEN DENIED, INTERFERED WITH, OR OTHERWISE RESTRICTED MAY 16 BRING AN ACTION IN AN APPROPRIATE COURT OF ORIGINAL JURISDICTION 17 TO ENJOIN FUTURE DENIALS, INTERFERENCE AND RESTRICTION AND TO 18 RECOVER STATUTORY DAMAGES OF $100 PER VIOLATION. IF A WOMAN 19 PREVAILS IN HER SUIT, SHE SHALL BE AWARDED REASONABLE ATTORNEY 20 FEES AND REASONABLE EXPENSES OF LITIGATION. 21 Section 10. Effective date. 22 This act shall take effect immediately. L18L35MSP/20070S0034B1252 - 2 -