I'm still chuckling as I type this.

What an advanced society we are, here, in the United States of America. I'll bet we are the only primates in the world to have already discovered that humans are mammals, that female mammals have breasts with milk glands, and that breasts produce the nourishment needed to feed infant human primate mammals.

AND, we (at least the state of Washington) now have a LAW on the books which recognizes this and implicitly ALLOWS female human primate mammals to feed their young!

REMARKABLE, advanced creatures, aren't we! :-)

Yet, it's a "civil right" for a woman to kill the very human in her womb?

What does this have to do with the article? I mean, besides the words 'civil rights'?

We all know it's a human

The issue isn't whether an embryo is human, it's whether it is a person.

She is ethically and morally obligated to carry out that human.

That's your opinion, and you have the right to it. You don't have the right to force others to do things with their bodies that they don't want to, however.

Urinating is natural and healthy, can we do that anywhere? I prefer the baby have a nipple in his/her mouth than to hear crying non-stop, but some people don't. The government should not force a privately owned business to do anything other than pay its fair share of tax. McDonald's banned smoking in its restaurants nationwide without a law being passed. We need to return to the good old days of boycotts or threatened ones.

cullerco

"Urinating is natural and healthy, can we do that anywhere?"

REPLY: Well, yes, I can. Especially if I've really gotta go! You?

:-)

Then again, the "liberal-minding" fool continues to poison the masses that preventing the normal, healthy processes of the female reproductive system is merely a "personal health issue." Nevermind it took a man to create the very new human life dependent on her healthy womb and normal processes for the next 40 weeks or

Gimmeabreak, you have got more issues than the periodicals area in the basement of the local library.

How many, exactly now, of those unwanted babies have you adopted???

Let me guess, zero.

Another "pro-birth" hypocrite whose idea of life is enforcing their preposterous moral code on others.

I'd like to read the ordinance. I hope they put something in there about the quality and aesthetically pleasing nature of the breast being exposed. Don't care if it's a natural thing. Lots of other things are natural that shouldn't be seen.

Urinating is natural and healthy, can we do that anywhere?

Yes, urinating is natural and healthy, but everyone is provided with public bathrooms to use so there's no need to urinate "anywhere". Breastfeeding women don't get "nursing rooms", and it would be unsanitary to nurse a baby in a public bathroom.

Svenolafson, if it offends you to see an infant eating, look the other way.

Breasts are for feeding babies, not just a plaything for self-centered men.

I got on here to say the exact same thing, Em, but you beat me to it... it's a sad, sad society we live in where laws have to be made so that we can feed our babies...

I have no big problem with public breastfeeding. What I have a problem with is a double standard. If a female breast is ok to be out for feeding, then it should be ok to be out period.

Urinating is natural and healthy, can we do that anywhere?

Yes, you can actually... However, most establishments have a place designated for that purpose. Also, everyone else is allowed to eat in public, why not an infant?

Gimmeabreakoradrink stated the differences between the Republican and the humane positions so very well. Until there is an actual living, breathing human being, the small government group is very interested in what happens in a woman's vagina. Once the woman gives birth, they have no interest whatsoever in the health of the child or the woman.

The humane approach is just the opposite. Have as little government intrusion into a woman's personal medical decisions until after child birth and then do what ever is needed to assist that real live breathing person to become a healthy, productive member of society.

Kind of amazing when you think about what the GOPers say they believe and what they do.

I have no big problem with public breastfeeding. What I have a problem with is a double standard. If a female breast is ok to be out for feeding, then it should be ok to be out period.

And it actually is in New York. Women can walk around topless if they please, and some do (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78_WHUOc9EU).

I am a woman, who breastfed her babies for a short time. I have no problem with this law except for one small detail. I should not have to have a boob in my line of sight nor should my children have to see one while we're trying to eat. Respectful women will be discreet about it. Unfortunately, not every woman will be.

What happens when some mother is not being discreet, and a young child goes up to her and stares and makes comments. Will this mother be fine with it? Quite frankly, if said mother wants to be that way, then staring child's mother should have no obligation to correct her child.

Really glad I don't live in Seattle.

Oh, and this is my right to feel this way and my civil right to say what I feel.

um, seriously, comparing breastfeeding to urination?? One is providing food to an infant, the other is an elimination of bodily waste. Probably someone who thinks a woman should have to pump her breastmilk in a bathroom stall at the office instead of being given a clean, private area. I bet you eat your lunch in there while someone else is dropping a deuce? Right? America- grow up . Breasts are for babies first and foremost. And women who need to or choose to feed their hungry child in *gasp* public have the right to do so. You don't like it, don't look. And for those pumping at work- don't you dare accept being relegated to the crapper. The boss's lunch isn't prepared in there, why should your child's be?

sfs - If a young child were to come up to me and stare at me, while I was feeding my baby, I would tell that child, that I was feeding my baby in the way it should be done whenever possible. Maybe if more kids were exposed to breast feeding a little more often (not necessarily exposed to the breast, but just the fact that a baby can and should be breastfed) then maybe there would be more breastfeeding in this country. If you have an issue with it, dont look.

Also, FYI, women always had the right to breast feed in public, in Seattle (and surrounding areas) This law just means that if she is told to go somewhere else (no matter how discreet she was being) she doesnt need to do so, and there could be repercussions for the one asking her to leave. In turn, this will make an establishment less likely to do so

I hardly think you can know what all right to life proponents do once a kid is brought into the world... I've never seen any proof that we run and hide, and there are hundreds of thousands of couples waiting to adopt those "unwanted" babies. I myself have offered to adopt two babies that were going to be killed because a doctor told the parents the baby wasn't "PERFECT" (who among us IS perfect?) "Certain politicians" don't speak for all of us, either. Do you want to be lumped in with every stupid thing your politicians of choice say? If the proof is in what the politicians say, it would be fair to say that everyone who voted for Obama thinks there are 53 states, or whatever it was he said. (Also, Seattle is a city, not a state...just for the record). And what does right to life have to do with this article, anyway? Do you think only right to life people believe you should be able to breastfeed your baby whenever necessary? You have your right to your opinion, but don't try to speak for all people who hold different beliefs.

You have your right to your opinion, but don't try to speak for all people who hold different beliefs.

The feeling is mutual. And I still stand by my statement. Considering women's rights are under siege (From equal pay to enduring smears and humiliation from the right) I think I'm dead on accurate. If the truth is uncomfortable, then maybe this isn't the forum for you.

EMDF9A

I have to disagree with you. Why should women have to be modest, men sure as hell aren't. Many men that nobody in their right mind would want to see naked take their shirts off in public. What a double standard. Most of the world is not this prudish and gets along just fine.

Much of the original "true" art in the world was based off the female form and it is no wonder we have never been able to match the talent with attitudes like that.

Well, I personally find boobs disgusting and dont want to see them, a kid sucking on them or anything else to do with them. And although it may be a double standard that modesty dictates women keep their breasts covered in public, it is still an appropriate standard.

Well, I personally find boobs disgusting and dont want to see them, a kid sucking on them or anything else to do with them

Perhaps you should try growing up?

That would be your modesty, and what you believe to be appropriate behavior to you, not to everyone. You don't have to look. Is your morality somehow more divine than theirs? I guess the answer to that would be a matter of opinion. I guess I don't understand what would give someone else the belief that they had any right to dictate to anyone else what was appropriate.

Brokinarrow I am guessing religious right female pushing views on the majority again.

EMDF.....Get over yourself already. What are you, 9?

John - according to post below, just a gay man that thinks boobs are icky.

I am conservative minded. Not in the religious right way, but in the don't spend every dime you get your hands on way. It really inflames me when any, and I mean any, group of a mindset believes that they have the right to deny civil liberties to another. They have no rights under the Constitution to legislate social conscience or the appropriate behavior of another, unless it is breaking the law. So to that end, they try to modify the law to their own personal morality. Which is a complete violation of the founding principles of this country.

When this country was founded, breaking the law was denying another their right to life and liberty, and over the course of the last 200 years it has been obscenely morphed into the the ability of one group to deny all liberties to whomever they choose based on "their" finite morality, and I find those that believe they have that right offensive to my core.

In other words "Mind your own @!$%#ing business!"

emdf ... not only are you being hatefull you are a hypocrite. breast are milk glands for babies to get thier nourashment from. just because men and some women see the breast as only sexual and only to be used that way is wrong not what they were made for . people need to get a life I mean really . you are all to uptight . god created us to do this and who are you to go against god.

As someone who breastfed my child thirty years ago, I have to agree that there are ways to do this so people don't hear that really annoying sucking, gulping sound that the baby can make. I was once invited to a nice, steak dinner at someone's house and the wife - who could have excused herself for 5-10 minutes to a bedroom to do the feeding - proceeded to "adjust herself" and start suckling the kid right at the dining room table while we were all trying to eat and have conversation. It was beyond disturbing.

Women, you don't have to act like trailer trash and whip it out wherever you please. We still live in a society with some etiquette/decorum, last I checked. We did not grow up in a primitive, African village where everyone would be used to the sights and sounds of suckling babes/toddlers. It is just really in-your-face, callously bad manners to not find a place to nurse the child, generations before us managed to do this quite well (don't think my gr. grandmother was suckling my grandmother at the dining table, just wasn't done).

Renata-1478915

I will agree, there are things that I find disgusting and disturbing. I think it rude to say grace at a restaurant. I think it rude for the people of WalMart to walk around with their fat hanging out, showing their cameltoe and much more. I find it rude to be flipped off by someone pulling out of church. I think it rude when someone answers their cell phone while you are talking to them. I can state many, many more, but my point is that nobody has the right to try to pass laws to control these behaviors, or attempt to call them illegal, and it should be very concerning that a law had to be passed to protect rights that should not ever be questioned.

You may not agree with what someone does, but attempting to pass laws making what "you" perceive to be offensive illegal is offensive in itself.

only stupid ignorant self absorbed people, or those still secretly harboring sexual feelings for their mother would be ofended by such a natural process as breast feeding a child.

I'm afraid EMDF is giving very poor impression of both those living in the Pacific Northwest and gay men. Please do not judge us all by his...well, victorian era sensibilities. I'm afraid if he keeps going, he'll come down with a case of the vapors.

I've lived in Seattle for some time now, and I have to say with as much as I dine out, I have very seldom seen a woman breast feed in a public restaurant, and on the few occasions that I have, they have been as discreet as you could like.

As for the disgusting sounds, I much prefer any noises from the child eating over the screaming, no...wailing tantrums from a baby who is hungry, but mom doesn't want to take the time away from feeding herself to take care of her child. If this means I can go to the grocery store and not have to hear a kid across the store screaming it's little head off wanting food, I say pop your boob out and give the kid what they wants! Everyone else will be much uncomfortable with that, I dare say.

Disturbing and disgusting ?!?!?

Says who ? Mothers need to be ashamed to go out in public and feed their child how nature intended because some people are conditioned to believe it's disgusting and disturbing, which it most certainly is not ? That's just absurd.

If it wasn't supposed to be like that, mothers wouldn't produce milk. But they do, so get over yourselves and expand those conditioned narrow minds.

A woman can very easily walk out to her vehicle or move it to a less populated area instead of the center of a diner where people of all ages are sitting trying to eat. To not do so is just arrogant of the mother who obviously thinks her mentality trumps all others.

People who find it offending should go sit on side of them while they are breast feeding and heckle them. I but that would get old saggy boobs up and out of view.

Bob, that thinking is archaic.

What is so disgusting and disturbing about breastfeeding ?!?!? Is it the thousands of complaints about those irresponsible nursing mothers shooting random people in the face with their milk ? No, that's just crazy talk.

I think it's all about the people against it being selfish arrogant boors.

Most men are probably against it because they can't help but gawk and would get in trouble with their significant other. Most women are probably against it so they won't have to discipline their significant other. The rest of us are against it because somewhere along the lines in this backward society of ours, we have been conditioned to believe it's evil, un-natural, disgusting, and/or disturbing.

Selfishness. As long as we're all comfortable who cares if a baby doesn't get the nutrition it needs. The children aren't our future or anything. Let's give them chemical laden, nutritionally lacking formula and Gerber, and dismiss the fact that their own mothers NATURALLY make milk that gives them everything they need. Yeah, that's what a responsible society does !

EMDF9A-

I dont want to see or hear your kid sucking a boob while I am having my eggs benedict or trying to reference something in the library.

Welp, I guess you'll just have to get over yourself then. Other people having rights means you don't always get what you want. Too bad.

I dont want to see or hear your kid sucking a boob while I am having my eggs benedict or trying to reference something in the library.

If you dont want to see it, dont look. My kids never made that much noise while I was feeding them, so I would think you cant hear it from far away.

I dont like the color yellow. If I see the color yellow, I ignore it. I also ignore women who are breastfeeding, even though I am all for them having the right to do so in public. It really isnt that hard. Its not like they're everywhere... I can go months without seeing a mother nurse her baby... And, I go to public places all the time.

Does this law prevent a business from having an "over 21 only" rule ? That would take care of EMDF's problem, only eat in locations that don't allow children..... Also, nothing like a liquid breakfast to get the day started off right.

superskunk, I honestly think that women who are against it are women who are either ashamed of their own bodies, ashamed that they didn't nurse their kids themselves or are just uptight prudes who should get over themselves.

Renata ... the woman in your example was in her OWN home and you were HER guest. Get over your self, honey. Or better yet, the next time you invite someone to YOUR home to have dinner, YOU get to go eat your dinner in the bathroom while your guest can eat at YOUR dining room table. MMMM-KAAAY? That woman's baby was in in its OWN HOME eating. If you were THAT offended, I'm sure that you made a huge scene and you no longer get invited over to that lovely couple's house for an EXPENSIVE steak dinner. Gods know that if you were a guest in *MY* house and had that issue you would NOT be invited back for anything and you might be wondering why my husband and I have made ourselves absent from the life of you and your husband.

You obviously dont live in Seattle. That was the idea of the council's action. Let them whip it out anytime they want. Washington already protects the rights of a woman to breastfeed in public but it does allow establishments to require a degree of modesty. The Seattle action does away with that... and all too many times I've had to finish my eggs benedict while watching some woman at the next booth pull out both boobs & let the kid go for it. As for fantasy.. far from it... I am a gay man and to me boobs are the most revolting part of a female anatomy.

COVER UP & feed the kid!

Well, men kissing in public grosses me the hell out, but I'm not going to vote to limit your rights. I'll just walk away gagging is all.

And I believe public displays of affection by anyone should be conducted with modesty as well. We live in a civilized society and need to consider others around us.

Maybe people (like you) just need to learn not to get so offended over every little thing they don't agree with.

Ummm.... just where can we get this eggs benedict? My local restaurant only scrambles.

Now I understand why you are so uptight about women's boobs. We, the normal and straight guys cherish and worship women's anatomy. We pray and we thank God who has provided us with a lovely opposite and very different partner from our own male anatomy. And with her we can produce our own off-springs who will inherit both our associated DNAs. How lovely life is! Maybe you do not understand how our straight minds work but I really am flabbergasted with your taste, man! I respect your taste for the kind of life partner you choose but I have to say this that your taste is really tasteless and downright disgusting! Nevertheless, you must thank your straight parents who have brought you into this world. Without them and their effort, there won't be you around, man! Can you do the same with your gay partner?

And I believe public displays of affection by anyone should be conducted with modesty as well

Exactly, except of course breast-feeding isn't a PDA.

EMDF9A,

And I believe public displays of affection by anyone should be conducted with modesty as well. We live in a civilized society and need to consider others around us.

I'm with you man. PDA, breast feeding, ass scratching, nose picking, balls arranging should all be done discreetly. It's just good manners. Woefully lacking in today's society. This is more in line with "Hey! Look at me!" than any protection of civil rights. The ordinance was created to push the beliefs of a juvenile city council that also wanted people to notice them.

PDA, breast feeding, ass scratching, nose picking, balls arranging should all be done discreetly

One of these things is not like the others... Baby's gotta feed, all the other things you've listed are not necessary to life. As I suggest to EMDF9A earlier, perhaps you could try to attain a higher level of maturity?

There's plenty of stuff that goes on in public that I don't like. You know what I do? Ignore them.

Svenolafson

You do realize that if you try to outlaw ass scratching and ball arranging, you would have to shut down major league baseball, right?

I would have added nose picking, I am sure it is done, but I haven't seen it first hand. Now farmers blow is another story.

EMDF9A, how is the irony lost on you that you are a gay man arguing against something being a civil right, on the sole basis that you personally find it disgusting?

You do realize that babies have arms right? Arms that wave. Arms that push blankets out of the way. Most babies once they are about 3 months or older don't like not being able to see around them. Oh and they are too young to reason with. Sometimes it can be really difficult to stay completely covered when breastfeeding. I mean your juggling trying to reposition clothing and holding a baby, sometimes you flash a little bit while not meaning to do so. And I've never heard loud sucking/slurping sounds coming from a breastfeeding baby.

The US would have a much lower infant mortality rate if we just breastfeed our babies exclusively in their first 6 months of life. Also lower obesity rates, higher over-all intelligence, lower cancer rates...I could go on. I would rather see a mother breastfeeing completely topless than see a mother give her infant formula. Non-breastfeed infants are four times more likely to end up in the hospital in their first year of life and more likely to DIE!

So to Nick, urinating is comparable to breastfeeding. And we share the same air.

First, Nick, urinating in a public place like the street is not sanitary. There are public health reasons why humans urinate and defecate in places set aside for those functions.

The other issue is that urinating requires a certain amount of exposure. If people are offended by women breast feeding, how would they feel about seeing your private parts, and how would you feel about a flasher doing the same thing?

Grow up and act like an adult, and plan ahead. There are plenty of public restrooms.

Unless you're Bear Ghrylls, urine isn't food.

Umm... so what if there is no facility around? What if you are in the middle of a big city? For example... if you are certain parts of Manhattan at night... walking down a street between the avenues... there isn't going to be a place to go... so you can pee in a sewer grate and no one is the wiser... or a cop happens to come by and you get charged. Or what if you are out in the country? You can't go in a ditch? If your car breaks down along the side of the highway... it is illegal to go behind a tree? It is wrong? We should just soil ourselves... and isn't soiling oneself nearly equally unsanitary if not more so because you are forced to contaminate yourself?

You know... my point wasn't to be anti-breastfeeding... I think natural things should be allowed to happen without threat of legal consequences. Wow... a touchy bunch.

You are a fabulous troll. Rock on!

And you, of course, will eat all of your meals in public with a blanket over your head, correct? Since the sight of another human being eating disturbs you so and you are an advocate of covering up ...

My son could not STAND to have his head covered with anything while he was nursing. He would get sweaty and WAIL. Surely the crying baby is less of a disturbance to you? Making a baby overheat just so YOU are comfortable with your own puritanical repressed body issues is the way to go, huh? Try it for yourself ... eat your next meal out in public completely under a blanket and don't inflict the sight of YOU getting nourishment on your fellow humans.

I think everyone should be able to douche or use an enema any time they want in public, in front of anyone, and without covering up. It's perfectly natural and If people don't like it or don't want to look at it, tough sh*t (at least not after the enema).

So stupidity is comparing douching and enema's with breastfeeding. And I have to share my air with it too.

Whatever, stupidity (perfect name for you BTW) your belief system, be it god, nature, or evolution douching and enema's are NOT natural to the human body. They are both man made inventions. Breast feeding however is a natural occurrence in nature, to give a child the nutrients and sustenance it requires.

Your argument is absolutely ridiculous as well is EMDF's about farting in your face. If you walk by and fart in front of me, oh well, no harm no foul, and I might even giggle or high five you.

But you equating that to a woman breast feeding is nonsense. There's a big difference between a mother a table away from you breastfeeding and squeezing into your booth and breastfeeding.

I'm wondering if your narrow mind comes from mommy issues from lack of breastfeeding ?

<It's perfectly natural> No it isn't, and it's not even necessary in healthy people. How in the WORLD did your brain put those things together with breastfeeding?

As for covering up...I have seen many, many people eat in such a way that it repulses me. Are we going to cover up all of them, too? I've seen men with their shirts halfway unbuttoned who show a lot more than a breastfeeding woman. Actresses show more boob than most breastfeeding women, and for some reason society idolizes that behavior! Perhaps we should just close all restaurants so that no one is ever offended when they eat in public again?

And John, I am a religious right female... but I certainly don't have issues with breast feeding in public.

Renata...there were lots of things our great grandmothers didn't do. They didn't work outside the home, they didn't handle the finances, they didn't drive, they didn't get to vote at church.... go further back and they didn't get to vote anywhere... so just because "it wasn't done" doesn't mean it was right. Plus, they were probably happy to crawl off in a quiet corner and nurse the baby because when they were out they were constantly being ordered around by the men in the household.

Again...have you liberals even ever spoken to a woman from the "right"? I am about as conservative as they come, but I see NOTHING wrong with a woman breastfeeding her baby wherever and whenever the need arises. Breastfeeding to me is part of my conservative, do-things-as-God-intended outlook on life.

OH NO! THAT WOMAN IS FEEDING HER CHILD! AND SHE'S DOING IT IN A WAY THAT COSTS NOTHING, AND REDUCES THE CHILD'S CHANCES FOR OBESITY, ALLERGIES, AND ILLNESSES! THROW A TARP OVER THEM BEFORE SOMEONE GETS THE IDEA THAT BOOBIES ARE NOT JUST PLAYTHINGS FOR MEN!

(end sarcasm)

I'm almost done nursing little boy #2, and while I've only nursed in public a few times, with coverings or in a vehicle, I have no objection to anyone breast feeding as often and inwhatever way they feel comfortable with.

I didn't know Seattle transplanted to the other coast

Other states have also given protections to breastfeeding moms. In New York, infants may accompany their mothers to a corrections facility if they are 1-year-old or younger. Virginian mothers may breastfeed on any land owned by the state. In Maryland, breastfeeding equipment is exempt from sales tax.

Uh, I was addressing something in the article ... maybe you just didn't READ the article before you started commenting?

Unless you were stating that only those people who live in Seattle should comment ...

Thinking that breastfeeding is something to "tolerate" is kind of the point. It is a right.

Private businesses should not have to tolerate anything on their own property. Civil rights only apply on public property and through government.

Civil rights magically disappear on private property? What have you been smoking?

Civil rights are rights that protect our freedoms but property rights are essentially supreme. I get to say what occurs on my property. If I don't want people breastfeeding on my property then people will not do so. If I don't want firearms on my property then they will be banned despite the existence of the second Amendment. This can and should apply to all private property.

So I take it you would have had no problem telling a person of color that they weren't allowed in your establishment? P.S. Think Civil Rights' Movement. I think you should do some research on the history of civil rights.

The only people that wouldn't be allowed on my establishment are police and those with unjust prejudices like racist or sexist beliefs. I would never ban anyone based on racial, religious, national or linguistic grounds. I know about civil rights. I know people will use it as an excuse to intrude on property rights and the rights of the individual. I understand that intruding on the individual's rights is wrong and an anti-freedom concept. If the US was a free nation then we wouldn't need a government to force the individual to serve people against their will and for "our own good" because the government "knows best" right???

A place of business still has to uphold civil rights, privately owned or not. Your home is a different matter entirely. And sometimes, yeah, the government DEFINITELY knows better than the corporations do. Without government regulation we'd all be slaves, trust me.

You can thank the fascist civil rights act for government making private businesses serve people by force. I think private businesses can and should do what they want. It is called freedom and in a free society, some people would not make decisions that everyone likes or approves. I disagree with the last point too. I think government regulations makes slaves of us all. Look how we can't even sell raw milk over state lines and we have armed government paramilitary raiding Amish farms because of that. But the government can taint our water with the poison known as fluoride against our will (a crime against humanity). They know best, huh? Maybe they know best when it comes to enforcing tyranny.

Wow, ok, you think the civil rights act was fascist and it's a bad thing that governments made businesses stop discriminating.... enough said.

Yes, let's just go back to the industrial revolution, when the COMPANY knew best! Child labor, no minimum wage, women getting paid FAR less than men and not able to obtain higher level jobs, rivers catching fire due to chemicals being dumped into them. Nooo, government regulations are DEFINITELY evil and corporations DEFINITELY know what's best for us... please.

On a side note, we are slaves. Once chattel slavery ended the age of debt slavery began.

If you embrace the ideals of freedom then you would understand my position and you would understand why it is bad for government to force morality on the People. Please consider it.

And if you understand history, you would understand why it's necessary for the government to tell corporations they aren't allowed to do certain things, like force people to work 16 hour work days, dump chemicals into the environment, etc.... Your ignorance is astounding.

It isn't necessary in a free society. It is necessary and normal for a more oppressed society like the US. A free society would see the market determine that some things are wrong and corporations would change depending how the market reacts.

In my opinion this is another nanny state move, just like smoking bans.

Well, I'm a smoker and I have to disagree with you here. Smoking bans are inconvenient for me but are necessary for the health of others. As my colleague likes to say, having a no-smoking section in a restaurant is like having a no-peeing section in a swimming pool. The fact was that, long after the health effects of secondhand smoke were known, many businesses would not voluntarily ban smoking for reasons akin to why the US will not unilaterally disarm itself. Now, you can say that nonsmoking customers can choose to go to a different restaurant, but what about the employees? Don't they have a right to a healthy workplace? (Can some machine shops choose not to have safety equipment in place because it's cheaper?)

Breastfeeding bans, on the other hand, are healthy for no one. I can't tell nonsmokers in a restaurant not to breathe if they don't like my smoke. But I can certainly tell you not to look if you don't like seeing the back of a baby's head and part of the side of a boob.

lol, touche!

@ Christoper:I take it back about another comment on another post being hands down the best comment of the day. Your comment just took first place! LOL

For those that are opposed to listening to sucking and gurgling noises and huge melons in your face while you are dining in a restaurant, here is a solution: complain and then complain again to management. Management will either appease you with a free meal and quite possibly a letter to the mayor's office about lost revenue. That or ask to be seated in a quieter location, free of the little diners! I don't think it is too much to ask a mom to show some discretion. After all, we have to eat, too.

Private individuals can ask for whatever they want, but they cannot impose their will on to someone else. It is for the property owner to set out the rules to abide by while on the premises. The law makes this one more thing that businesses are legally obligated to accommodate.

JD ... I assume that YOU eat all of your meals in public with a blanket thrown over YOUR head, right? I certainly don't want to have to watch YOU eat.

My son could NOT tolerate being covered while he nursed. No matter how light the covering was, he would get sweaty and start screaming. No mother should be asked to neglect her child or make it overheat simply to satisfy the puritanical impulses of some members of society.

Oh, and you ask all women who are wearing bikinis to cover up as well, right? I mean, "This is a matter of decency and honor. The only people wo should see this breat is the husband, baby and Doctor. Period."

I am a woman and raised children. Yes it is natural to breast feed and to urinate. I nursed mine at home and never ever had to in a public place; as I taught my children to use the bathroom before leaving the house. I, my own opinion, think it is disgusting to see a woman breast feed in a restaurant or in a public place, to see children gauk at it etc.