Mothers Stage “Nurse-In” at Airports Across U.S.
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 11.22.06 | 7:58 AM ET
Women throughout the United States yesterday staged a “nurse-in” at more than 30 domestic airports, breastfeeding their babies to express their outrage about a fellow mother, Emily Gillette, being ejected from a Delta Air Lines flight last month for refusing to cover up with a blanket while nursing her daughter. According to news reports, 37 U.S. states have laws protecting a woman’s right to nurse in public, and legislation has been reintroduced to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breast-feeding in public.
“This is not a protest. We want to show people that breast-feeding is completely normal,” Robin Abadia, who attended the Reagan National Airport outside of Washington D.C., told the Washington Post.
Delta spokeswoman Gina Laughlin claimed the offending flight attendant made a mistake. She said: “Delta Air Lines fully supports a mother’s right to breast-feed on board our aircraft, and we were very disappointed in the decision to move Ms. Gillette from the flight.”