Senate Bill No. 82
(By Senators Foster, Stollings, Beach, Klempa, and Plymale)
____________
[Introduced January, 13, 2011; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-1-19, relating to a child’s right to nurse; and making a statement by the Legislature that nursing in a public place is socially acceptable.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-1-19, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. STATE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.
§16-1-19. Child’s right to nurse; location where permitted; right protected.
(a) The Legislature finds that breast feeding is an important, basic act of nurturing that is protected in the interests of maternal and child health.
(b) A mother may breast feed a child in any location, public or private, where the mother and child are otherwise authorized to be.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to declare a child’s right to nurse and making a statement by the Legislature that nursing in a public place is socially acceptable.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.