H-2339

AN ACT Relating to breastfeeding; amending RCW 9A.88.010; adding a new section to chapter 49.60 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 49.12 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 49.60 RCW to read as follows:

The legislature declares that the promotion of family values and child health demands putting an end to the unfortunate cycle of embarrassment and ignorance that constricts women and men alike on the subject of breastfeeding. The legislature finds that:

(1) The American academy of pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and breastfeeding with solids to continue for at least twelve months. The American academy of pediatrics recommends that mothers begin breastfeeding within the first hour after delivery and recommends that arrangements be made to provide expressed breast milk if the mother and child must separate during the first year;

(2) Breast milk contains all the nutrients a child needs for ideal growth and development, many of which can only be found in breast milk. Breast milk is easy to digest and helps guard against juvenile diabetes, lymphomas, Crohn's disease, and a number of chronic liver diseases;

(3) Studies show that children who are not breastfed have higher rates of death, meningitis, childhood leukemia and other cancers, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, bacterial and viral infections, diarrheal diseases, allergies, obesity, and developmental delays;

(4) Breastfeeding may help reduce the mother's risk of breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis;

(5) Breastfeeding releases oxytocin, a hormone in a woman's body that causes her uterus to return to its normal size and shape more quickly after birth. Breastfeeding also releases prolactin, a hormone which promotes closeness between a mother and her child;

(6) Women with children are the fastest growing segment of today's labor force;

(7) At least fifty percent of women who are employed when they become pregnant return to the work force by the time their children are three months old;

(8) Women who wish to continue breastfeeding after returning to work have relatively few and simple needs: Availability of suitable, dependable, efficient breast pumps; a convenient, sanitary, safe, private, and comfortable location at the workplace; and the ability during the work shift to express milk from her breasts and safely store it;

(9) Women who are allowed to breastfeed in their place of employment benefit their employers because these women have higher morale, higher self-esteem, increased productivity, more company loyalty, and lower health care costs;

(10) Although the pregnancy discrimination act, enacted by Congress in 1978, prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition, courts have not interpreted the pregnancy discrimination act to include breastfeeding.

Sec. 2. RCW 9A.88.010 and 1990 c 3 s 904 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A person is guilty of indecent exposure if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm. The act of breastfeeding or expressing breast milk is not indecent exposure.

(2) Indecent exposure is a misdemeanor unless such person exposes himself or herself to a person under the age of fourteen years in which case indecent exposure is a gross misdemeanor on the first offense and, if such person has previously been convicted under this subsection or of a sex offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030, then such person is guilty of a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 49.12 RCW to read as follows:

(1) An employer may use the designation "baby-friendly" on its promotional materials if the employer has an approved workplace breastfeeding policy addressing at least the following:

(a) Flexible work scheduling, including scheduling breaks and permitting work patterns that provide time for expression of breast milk;

(b) Convenient, sanitary, safe, and private locations allowing privacy for breastfeeding or expressing breast milk;

(d) A convenient hygienic refrigerator in the workplace for the mother's breast milk.

(2) Employers seeking approval of a workplace breastfeeding policy must submit the policy to the department of health. The department of health shall review and approve those policies that meet the requirements of this section.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "employer" includes those employers defined in RCW 49.12.005 and also includes the state, state institutions, state agencies, political subdivisions of the state, and municipal corporations or quasi-municipal corporations.