Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 2236)

When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, Congress intended to include breastfeeding and expressing breast milk as protected conduct under the amendment. Unfortunately, some courts have not recognized breastfeeding and expressing breast milk as covered under the act, so a bill has been introduced to clarify Congress’ intent: the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2007 (H.R. 2236).

H.R. 2236 will accomplish the following:

1. It will amend Title VII, Section 701(k) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include “lactation” as defined as “feeding of a child directly from the breast or the expressing of milk from the breast.”
2. It will provide for tax credits for employers to provide an appropriate environment for mothers to breastfeed or express breast milk at work.
3. It will give the Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to create a performance standard for breast pumps and identify pumps appropriate for use on a regular basis in a place of employment.
4. It will expand the definition of medical care under section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to include qualified breastfeeding equipment and services, like breast pumps and lactation consultants.

The expansion of the definition of medical care in the Internal Revenue Code will allow women to use funds in their Medical Savings Accounts to pay for breastfeeding equipment and services without incurring a tax on the withdrawal.

By expressing (no pun intended) your support for this bill, you can help it move forward to become law. What you can do is contact your representative by phone or by letter and ask her to please co-sponsor the Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 2236). The bill was sponsored by Rep. Carol B. Maloney, N.Y., and it currently has 25 co-sponsors, among them may be your representative who could use your support.

To learn more about the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, go to the Library of Congress website and enter H.R. 2236 into the bill search engine. From there you can read the bill and see its status and co-sponsors.