Arkansas Woman Kicked Out of Courtroom for Breastfeeding

An Arkansas is claiming that she was kicked out of the Crawford County Courtroom.

Nicole House was in the courtroom to testify before a judge in a divorce case when a court bailiff told her to leave because she was breastfeeding her baby.

Breastfeeding in Workplace and Public Places

The health care reform legislation has a provision to support breastfeeding rights of women. It, however, only covers the workplace and not all public places.

Arkansas’ law states “a woman may breastfeed a child in a public place or any place where other individuals are present.”

House is reported to have covered herself with a clothe as she breastfed her daughter while waiting to at the Crawford County courthouse to testify in a divorce case.

KTHV reports House states, "Then he [the bailiff] asked again, 'Are you breastfeeding?' I said 'Yeah.', and he said 'Don't you ever do that again here!' I was under the impression that the law said it was okay to breastfeed in a private or a public place where individuals are present," says House.

House is filing an official complaint with the Crawford County sheriff's office regarding the bailiff that confronted her.

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Source
KTHV.com
KFSM.com
Arkansas Breastfeeding Coalition