REPORT TITLE:
Breastfeeding


DESCRIPTION:
Enacts the new mothers breastfeeding promotion and protection
act.  (SD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO NEW MOTHERS BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION AND PROTECTION
   ACT. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  This Act may be cited as the "New Mothers
 
 2 Breastfeeding Promotion and Protection Act of 1998."
 
 3      SECTION 2.  The legislature finds that:
 
 4      (1)  Women with infants and toddlers are the fastest growing
 
 5           segment of today's labor force, with at least fifty per
 
 6           cent of pregnant women who are employed returning to
 
 7           work by the time their children are three months old;
 
 8      (2)  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
 
 9           breastfeeding for at least the first twelve months of a
 
10           child's life and further recommends that arrangements
 
11           be made to provide expressed breastmilk if mother and
 
12           child are separated;
 
13      (3)  Breastmilk contains all the nutrients a child needs for
 
14           ideal growth and development, including helpful
 
15           antibodies, proteins, immune cells, and growth factors
 
16           that can only be found in breastmilk, and is easy to
 
17           digest;
 
18      (4)  Breastfeeding promotes closeness between mother and
 
19           child;
 

 
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 1      (5)  Breastmilk is the first line of immunization defense
 
 2           and enhances the effectiveness of vaccines given to
 
 3           infants;
 
 4      (6)  Research studies show that children who are not
 
 5           breastfed have higher rates of mortality, meningitis,
 
 6           some types of cancers, asthma, and other respiratory
 
 7           illnesses, bacterial and viral infections, diarrhocal
 
 8           diseases, ear infections, allergies, and obesity;
 
 9      (7)  Research studies also show that breastmilk and
 
10           breastfeeding have protective effects against the
 
11           development of a number of chronic diseases, including
 
12           juvenile diabetes, lymphomas, Crohn's disease, celiac
 
13           disease, some chronic liver diseases, and ulcerative
 
14           colitis;
 
15      (8)  Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the mother's
 
16           risk of breast and ovarian cancer, hip fractures, and
 
17           osteoporosis;
 
18      (9)  Breastfeeding releases a hormone in a woman's body that
 
19           causes her uterus to return to its normal size and
 
20           shape more quickly, and reduces blood loss after
 
21           delivery;
 
22     (10)  A number of recent studies show that breastfed children
 
23           have higher intelligence quotients at all ages;
 

 
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 1     (11)  Breastfeeding promotion and support are an integral
 
 2           part of the federal nutrition services provided by the
 
 3           women, infants, and children (WIC) program, and has
 
 4           reduced the costs of that program; as an example, in a
 
 5           recent cost-benefit study in Colorado, breastfeeding in
 
 6           the WIC program saved $161 in the first six months of
 
 7           life when compared with formula-fed infants, and saved
 
 8           $112 per infant in the medicaid program in reducing
 
 9           pharmacy costs by fifty per cent;
 
10     (12)  In 1997, the United States had one of the lowest
 
11           breastfeeding rates of all industrialized nations and
 
12           one of the highest rates of infant mortality;
 
13     (13)  Women who wish to continue breastfeeding after
 
14           returning to work have relatively few needs to allow
 
15           them to breastfeed at work, such as the availability of
 
16           suitable, dependable, and efficient breast pumps, the
 
17           availability of a clean, convenient, safe, private, and
 
18           comfortable location to express milk at the worksite;
 
19           the opportunity to pump their breasts frequently enough
 
20           to maintain their milk supply; and an adequate place to
 
21           temporarily store expressed milk;
 
22     (14)  Many employers report seeing positive results from
 
23           facilitating lactation programs in the workplace,
 

 
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 1           including low absenteeism, high productivity, high
 
 2           company loyalty, high employee morale, and lower health
 
 3           care costs;
 
 4     (15)  Employee absenteeism due to infant illness is three
 
 5           times less among parents of breastfed children than
 
 6           formula fed children;
 
 7     (16)  Workplace programs that aim to improve infant health
 
 8           may also bring about a reduction in employee
 
 9           absenteeism and health insurance costs;
 
10     (17)  Many women do not have access to adequate facilities
 
11           for expressing milk at their workplace, and are forced
 
12           to pump in restrooms lacking privacy, comfort, and
 
13           cleanliness;
 
14     (18)  Many employers do not have adequate refrigeration
 
15           facilities for storing expressed milk;
 
16     (19)  Many employers deny women the opportunity to breastfeed
 
17           or to express milk, with some women being discharged
 
18           for requesting to breastfeed or to express milk during
 
19           lunch and other regular breaks, some women being
 
20           harassed and discriminated against for breastfeeding or
 
21           expressing milk at work, and some women having their
 
22           pay withheld or taken off shift work for indicating
 
23           their intention to express milk during the workday;
 

 
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 1     (20)  There are numerous products on the market to assist
 
 2           women in expressing milk, but not all of these products
 
 3           are effective or efficient which leads to breastfeeding
 
 4           failure due to the use of ineffective breast pumps; and
 
 5     (21)  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has not been
 
 6           interpreted by the courts to include breastfeeding
 
 7           despite an amendment under the Pregnancy Discrimination
 
 8           Act of 1978 to prohibit discrimination based on
 
 9           pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
 
10      The purpose of this Act is to prohibit discriminatory
 
11 employment practices against women who breastfeed or express
 
12 milk.
 
13      SECTION 3.  Section 367-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
14 amended to read as follows:
 
15      "§367-3 Duties of commission.  The commission shall:
 
16      (1)  Act as a central clearinghouse and coordinating body
 
17           for governmental and nongovernmental activities and
 
18           information relating to the status of women;
 
19      (2)  Accumulate, compile, and publish information concerning
 
20           instances of actual discrimination, and discrimination
 
21           in the law, against women[;], including instances of
 
22           discrimination involving breastfeeding or expressing
 
23           breastmilk in the workplace under chapter 378.  For
 

 
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 1           purposes of this paragraph, the term "breastfeeding"
 
 2           means the feeding of a child directly from the breast
 
 3           by a lactating woman;
 
 4      (3)  Cooperate with the department of labor and industrial
 
 5           relations and other state departments and agencies and
 
 6           appropriate federal offices and agencies in correcting
 
 7           unlawful employment practices, in public and private
 
 8           employment, involving discrimination because of sex;
 
 9      (4)  Create public awareness and understanding of the
 
10           responsibilities, needs, potentials, and contributions
 
11           of women as homemakers, workers, and active
 
12           participants in community life and of the importance of
 
13           each of these roles in the changing society;
 
14      (5)  Recommend legislative and administrative action on
 
15           equal treatment and opportunities for women;
 
16      (6)  Seek improvements in educational and counseling
 
17           programs and policies to meet the needs of girls and
 
18           women in order better to prepare them for their roles
 
19           in the home and community;
 
20      (7)  Encourage a long-range program of education of women in
 
21           their political rights and responsibilities,
 
22           particularly with respect to their voting duties;
 
23      (8)  Maintain contacts with appropriate federal, state,
 

 
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 1           local, and international agencies concerned with the
 
 2           status of women;
 
 3      (9)  Cooperate with national groups on the status of women
 
 4           and arrange for participation by representatives of the
 
 5           State in White House conferences and other national
 
 6           conferences from time to time;
 
 7     (10)  Administer funds allocated for its work; be authorized
 
 8           to accept, disburse, and allocate funds which may
 
 9           become available from other governmental and private
 
10           sources; provided that all such funds shall be
 
11           disbursed or allocated in compliance with any specific
 
12           designation stated by the donor and in the absence of
 
13           such specific designation, such funds shall be
 
14           disbursed or allocated on projects related to any of
 
15           the purposes of this chapter; and
 
16     (11)  Submit an annual report with recommendations to the
 
17           governor and the legislature."
 
18      SECTION 4.  Section 378-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
19 amended by amending the definition of "because of sex" to read as
 
20 follows:
 
21      ""Because of sex" shall include, but is not limited to,
 
22 because of pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or extracting
 
23 expressed breastmilk, or related medical conditions; and women
 

 
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 1 affected by pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or extracting
 
 2 expressed breastmilk, or related medical conditions shall be
 
 3 treated the same for all employment-related purposes, including
 
 4 receipt of benefits under fringe benefit programs, as other
 
 5 individuals not so affected but similar in their ability or
 
 6 inability to work."
 
 7      SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 8 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 9      SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.