Meng Introduces Legislation to Increase Breastfeeding Rights for Working Mothers

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) announced today that she has introduced legislation to improve a landmark provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that allows new mothers to pump breastmilk at their place of employment.

Under the ACA, which President Obama signed into law in March 2010, employers are required to provide nursing mothers with a private space and break time to pump breast milk for their babies until the child turns one. However, a hardship exemption allows employers with less than 50 employees the option to opt out of the law.

Meng's legislation, entitled the Fair Access for Moms Act (H.R. 2836), would fix the problem by applying the provision to employers with 15 or more employees.

"Requiring accommodations for women who need to pump breastmilk while on the job was a significant victory in the ACA," said Meng. "It finally knocked down the barrier that working mothers faced when trying to provide breastmilk for their newborns. But exempting certain employers effectively excludes thousands of nursing mothers who would otherwise be covered. Making this slight change to the ACA is the right and fair thing to do so that breastfeeding is accessible to as many new moms as possible."

The Fair Access for Moms Act would make rights for nursing mothers in the workplace apply to the same scope of employers as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other similar federal accommodation and anti-discrimination laws, as well as similar proposed legislation, such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

Meng's bill was introduced with 17 cosponsors including Reps. John Conyers (D-MI), Betty McCollum (D-MN), James McGovern (D-MA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Beto O'Rourke (D-TX), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Grace Napolitano (D-TX), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ann Kuster (D-NH), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Norma Torres (D-CA). It has been referred to the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

The measure is endorsed by the National Women's Law Center and ZERO TO THREE: National Center on Infants, Toddlers, and Families.

In addition to her legislation, Meng is a cosponsor of the Friendly Airports for Mothers Act, which would require large and medium hub airports in the U.S. to provide a private spot in each terminal for new mothers to pump breast milk.

She also signed a letter this month asking Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell to ensure that women have access to breastfeeding equipment and lactation counseling. Under the ACA, insurance companies are required to cover breastfeeding support. But according to reports, insurance companies have not been complying.