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Enact and Influence Legislation
Why do we need breastfeeding legislation?
- Many people complain that breastfeeding legislation is not necessary, or that it is a shame that it’s necessary to enact legislation concerning such a basic act of nurture. However, this is looking at the cup half empty rather than half full. Any legislation that deals with breastfeeding is a positive step, and a statement that recognizes the importance of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding legislation accomplishes what it intends to - to increase the incidence and duration of breastfeeding, by helping to change the public opinion about breastfeeding and we can use breastfeeding legislation to help accomplish more, by knowing what laws exist, why they exist, and by spreading this knowledge. It is very important that our society learns that breastfeeding is not just a lifestyle choice, but a significant health choice for mother and baby. Educating people about this can do much to promote breastfeeding, and to help legislation succeed.
- By Elizabeth N. Baldwin, JD
Too often our society associates the female breast with sexual pleasure instead of a natural source of infant nutrition. Until we educate our society of the need for breastfeeding as a crucial health preventative, legislation can provide for the protection of the breastfeeding mother and child.
Legislation can help prevent negative interventions that interfere with breastfeeding or cause early weaning. A meaningful message is sent to breastfeeding mothers when we have laws in place that clarify issues such as the:
- rights of mothers to breastfeed in public,
- rights of mothers to breastfeed and work or go to school, and the
- prevention of interruption of breastfeeding, such as exemption from jury duty and separation of breastfeeding mother and child due to divorce or separation.
Because breastmilk is a natural immunization for babies and prevents many health problems that may result in high medical bills, one idea may be to promote and support this practice through legislating sales tax relief on breastfeeding support products as well as reduced insurance rates for mothers and babies who breastfeed. Because physicians and nurses have a tremendous impact on the initiation and duration rates of breastfeeding, legislation to include lactation education in medical schools is another idea.
Legislation to ensure lactation professionals have a sufficient level of skill and knowledge to facilitate breastfeeding by meeting eligibility, examination, and continuing education requirements of the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) would not only improve the quality of care given by lactation consultants, but would improve the chance that breastfeeding consultations are reimbursed by health insurance companies.
Federal and State law already in place
Federal
Right to Breastfeed, (H.R. 1848) ensures a woman's right to breastfeed her child anywhere on Federal property where she and her child are authorized to be. Enacted in 1999 as part of the Treasury-Postal Appropriations bill (H.R.2490) [P.L.106-58].
Texas
Right to Breastfeed & Business Designation as "Mother-Friendly", Chapter 165, Texas Health and Safety Code, enacted in 1995
- A mother is entitled to breastfeed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be.
- Defines provisions for employers to become certified as a “Mother-Friendly Worksite” to accommodate their breastfeeding employees. It addresses the following:
- Work schedule flexibility
- Privacy to express milk
- Access nearby to a clean, safe water source and sink
- Access to hygienic storage alternatives
- The business shall submit its breastfeeding policy to the DSHS.
- Requires the DSHS to administer the Mother-Friendly Worksite program and to establish a demonstration project in Travis County.
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Minimum Guidelines for Human Donor Milk Banks, Chapter 161, Texas Health and Safety Code, enacted in 2001
- Requires the DSHS to establish minimum guidelines for the procurement, processing, distribution, or use of human milk by donor milk banks.
Texas Insurance Code, Chapter 1366, Texas Health and Safety Code, enacted in 2003
- Provides that the health insurer of a maternity patient discharged before the statutory minimum stay must be provided post delivery services including assistance and training in breastfeeding.
Other states
As of 2006, all but four states in the United States have some breastfeeding legislation, ranging from protecting the rights of women to breastfeed in public, exempting breastfeeding mothers from jury duty, protecting breastfeeding mothers who return to work, consideration of breastfeeding when making custody and visitation decisions, consideration of exemption for nursing in cars regarding seatbelt laws, and exemption from sales tax laws for breastfeeding accessories. Shaded states in the following table do not have breastfeeding legislation.
State Breastfeeding Legislation
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Alabama
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Hawaii
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Massachusetts
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New Jersey
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South Dakota
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Alaska
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Idaho
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Michigan
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New York
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Tennessee
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Arizona
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Illinois
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Minnesota
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North Carolina
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Texas
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Arkansas
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Indiana
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Mississippi
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North Dakota
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Utah
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California
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Iowa
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Missouri
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Ohio
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Vermont
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Colorado
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Kansas
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Montana
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Oklahoma
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Virginia
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Connecticut
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Kentucky
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Nebraska
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Oregon
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Washington
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Delaware
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Louisiana
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Nevada
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Pennsylvania
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West Virginia
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Florida
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Maine
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New Hampshire
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Rhode Island
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Wisconsin
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Georgia
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Maryland
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New Mexico
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South Carolina
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Wyoming
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To see a complete summary of breastfeeding legislation in the US and proposed legislation, see http://www.lalecheleague.org/LawMain.html
Getting the Legislative Process Started
Two years prior
- Start the legislative process by discussing what type of legislation your coalition members would like to support. Contact and network with other state coalitions so that statewide efforts are focused on one or two bills per session.
- Identify your “breastfeeding hero.” Find a legislator who is passionate about breastfeeding - someone you know would be willing to ask for a hearing.
- Target difficult legislation for non-election years. Typically, more legislation gets passed in non-election years than election years.
- See if you can attach your legislation to reauthorizations or appropriations bills. These are already moving bills and it’s much easier to get new legislation passed this way.
One year prior
- Develop your key messages. This is one of the most important steps to seeing legislation succeed. Allow plenty of time for key message development. (See Developing Your Key Messages.)
Just before the session
- Develop a white paper. Your white paper should be designed to argue your specific position to help representatives justify the legislation. It should name the bill you are promoting, include your key messages, and your groups name and contact information. It should fit on one side of a standard size paper (8.5x11).
Early in the session year
- Send your white paper to breastfeeding coalitions, WIC clinics, La Leche League Leaders, attachment parenting groups, and any other organizations willing to help support the legislation. Inform everyone to use the white paper as a referral source for talking points. It will help ensure the same key messages are delivered to media contacts throughout the State.
- Meet with the administration of whatever agency is being affected to provide clarification on the bill.
- Work your bill by visiting representative offices. (See Working the Bill.)
- Ask all coalition members and members of supporting organizations to E-mail, send a letter to, or call their representatives. If this is done later in the session when time is short, E-mail rather than using U.S postal mail. (The anthrax scare of the 1990’s significantly slowed down postal mail.)
Later in the session year
- Attend the hearings on the bill and register and/or testify for the bill.
- Keep the issue before the public with speeches and media coverage, if possible.
- Once the bill has been heard by the House and Senate, there are usually two bills. Visit representative offices again to help combine the bills.
- Keep in mind,
- the committee staff, speaker, and majority leader are very influential people.
- at the end of legislative sessions, there is often a day where they try to pass a lot of non-threatening bills in one day.
- During election years, invite your “breastfeeding hero” to speak at or open events. If you can make sure the media will there, your representative will want to be there.
Creating Your Key Messages
Your key messages should have the following characteristics:
- Clarity – Limit it to three or four main messages. Base your messages on universal values.
- Connection - with your real audience. Define your primary and secondary target audience and make sure the messages translate to those audiences.
- Compelling – Your key messages should be15-20 second credible and persuasive sound bites. If you make them compelling, they’ll be more likely to be quoted and aired on radio and television.
- Concise – When creating key messages, less is more. Keep them brief and to the point.
- Continual – Key messages should be said over and over again. People usually need to hear it between 7-12 times to remember it. To motivate them, it often takes more than 12 times.
To create your key messages:
- Brainstorm with members of your coalition by documenting all message ideas utilizing the characteristic listed above.
- Weed anything out that will:
- be defensive,
- too technical for the audience,
- be viewed as too expensive,
- create side issues that will cause people to get off track,
- be viewed as negative, or
- will “open a can of worms.”
- Anticipate what kind of controversial questions might arise during meetings with legislators and the media and prepare answers. Every answer should end in one of your key messages. That way you can:
- anticipate the question,
- answer the question, and then
- transition to your key message(s).
- When answering a controversial question, start with “I’m so glad you raised that question” or “Here’s what I can tell you about that.” Never use the words “but” or “however” - use “and” instead.
Contacting Your Representatives
To endorse breastfeeding legislation, set up an appointment with a legislator, to thank a legislator for supporting breastfeeding, or complain about a violation of breastfeeding, contact your representative.
For names and addresses of your district’s representatives in the Texas Legislature, see http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/fyi.htm
For names and addresses of your representatives in Congress, see http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
Effective E-mail and Letter Writing Techniques
- Sending an E-mail or writing a letter is more effective than making a phone call. Positions can be explained in greater detail. There is also a greater chance that the legislator will see it. Officials do read representative parts of their mail and often answer their own E-mail. They do not answer their own phones.
- Make sure to address the elected official and your correspondence correctly. Senators, both state and U.S., are addressed as Dear Senator Last Name. Representatives, both state and U.S., are addressed as Dear Representative Last Name. All members of Congress and the General Assembly, as well as the Governor and the President, may be addressed as The Honorable First Name Last Name, followed by their address.
- State who you are and where you live in the first paragraph so it is clear you are a constituent. Make sure that you state any credentials. For example, being a member of an organization or institution that would make you particularly credible on a particular issue. It means that you have first hand experience that the legislator may not have. At minimum, you have credentials because you live in that official’s district and you have an opinion.
- When writing or sending an E-mail about a particular bill, try to include the bill number and the title.
- Tie the issue to the larger needs of the community. Make the long-term benefits to large groups of people known.
- Ask for a response E-mail or letter stating the legislator’s position.
- Include your name, street address, E-mail address, and a phone number with area code.
Working the Bill - Tips for Visiting Legislators
- Make an appointment. Before you visit an office, send a fax requesting a visit. Most offices require you to fax this letter first, and then you can follow up with a phone call to schedule a meeting. Don’t just show up at the office.
- Learn about the elected representative. Know who you are dealing with by researching what issues are important to the elected official – what committees she or he is on, what her/his voting record is, etc. You can find this information on legislative web sites (Rx) or by joining a legislative action center. Many organizations have a legislative action center that is free to join, such as http://capwoz.com/awhonn/home/.
- Get bipartisan support. Try to get a strong commitment from at least one representative from each major party. If the legislator does not seem excited about your bill, don’t waste your time. Move on to the next legislator.
- Dress professionally and be polite. Projecting a professional and organized image lends credibility to you and importance to your issue.
- Arrive early. Be not only prompt - be early. Most legislative office schedules are jam-packed.
- Meeting with a staff member is fine - or sometimes better. Upon arrival, tell the receptionist who you are and whom you want to see. If the legislator is unavailable, ask to meet with their aide or staff. Staff members are responsible for researching issues and providing advice to the representative. They have the ear of the representative. If you do meet with the legislator, make another appointment to meet with their staff.
- Be patient. It is not uncommon for your legislators and aides to be late because of hearings, committee meetings, and voting sessions.
- Be prepared. You must prepare what you will say in your short visit. Prior to the meeting, brainstorm on what questions you might be asked and be prepared to answer them.
- Arm yourself with information. Legislators appreciate data, so bring statistics, facts, and references about your issue. Specific state data is best.
- Understand that constituents carry weight. Elected officials are most interested in hearing from people actually in their district. Their constituents keep them in office, so they care about what you have to say. Each person should introduce themselves by name, where they live, and what they do.
- Work quickly. The meeting is likely to be only 15 minutes in duration. Take a few minutes to introduce yourself and explain your credentials and affiliations. Then move on to stating why you are there and illustrate your issue with a few quick points. Stick to your key messages. Ask for what you want the representative to do and then offer to answer questions. When answering questions, always end the answer by repeating one of your key messages.
- Don’t just tell. Paint a picture. When possible, have someone with you to share a personal story of how the issue affects individuals in your community or society in general.
- Remember that you are not expected to be an expert. If you don’t know the answer to a question, write it down and get back to him or her.
- Always end with an “ASK.” Always ask for what you want before leaving - authorizing legislation, support for a bill, funding, etc.
- Leave information behind. Try not to overwhelm the staff but leave your key message document with plenty of references. Hand the packet to them as you are saying goodbye. Leave your contact information in case they need further information on the topic. You are building relationships and this is very important.
- Thank them. Close by thanking the legislator and/or the staff for their time and attention.
- Remember to follow up. Send a letter thanking the staff for their time, summarizing your issue and the action needed. Offer your help for the future or for additional information.
Samples
At the end of this section you will find samples from the Central Texas Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Breastfeeding Coalition of:
- A legislative white paper.
- The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Advocate newsletter designed to share with legislators, media, and supporters of the legislation.
- Sample letter to representatives.
- A white paper FAQ sheet developed to give legislators easy access to data that plainly demonstrated the superiority of breastfeeding, especially for health and financial reasons.
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