Have you heard on the news about Delta Airlines removing a woman from a flight for breastfeeding?

Question

She refused to cover up and a bunch of women protested by breastfeeding in front of their ticket counter in New Mexico (Where this happened. I personally thing that the airloine was within their rights to remove her from the flight when she refused to cover up. I breastfed my son but it really irks me when women think that they can just whip it out anywhere without covering up. It might be a natural thing to breastfeed, but women don't need to flaunt to people that don't want to see it. There is such a thind as commen sense and decency

I didn't say that she doesn't have the right to feed her baby, but there is no reason that she could not have covered herself. I think it is just rude for women to think that it is ok to flaunt it. If breastfeeding needs to be done in public it should be done tastefully.

Answer 1

She was given the chance and she refused so it was entirely her fault she was thrown off. After reading what another poster wrote, that the child was almost 2 years old I can even understand it more. A 2 year old does not have to breastfeed. It is not vital to his health and it not appropriate in a developed country. A 2 year old can eat food. I would be alarmed seeing a 2 year old breastfeed.

Answer 2

Because there was a very famous incident involving pilots working for Northwest Airlines who were found to be VERY drunk. Not just a little tipsy, but beyond inebriated. While the jokes are still out there, this did happen 9-10 years ago, and many procedures have been changed. Alcohol consumption within 12 hours of a flight is grounds for dismissal from any airline now.

Answer 3

I seen it too. I live in Nashville, TN and they protested too. It is all over the news here. I am a very shy person so I plan to cover up but I think the woman had every right to breast feed her child and this is why.... I seen a news special about a year ago if even that long and it was talking about things that happen at the airlines that you wouldn't even know about if not for this special report. There was a mom on the show that breastfeeds her child and she didn't want to breastfeed on the plane in public so she had pumped her milk into a bottle. When she got to the airport they wanted her to drink so much of it so they would know that it wasn't some kind of a bomb. She told them it was breast milk and they didn't care and she couldn't feed it to her child because she had just feed her before going to the air port she was pissed off and I don't blame her. So that is why I think that it is okay for moms to breast feed on the plane. Plus on that same special report there was a woman that was mad because she was seated next to a man that was looking at a playboy magazine and she felt very uncomfortable and ask the man if he would put it away and he refused so she asked the stewardess if she would get him to put it away and she said no. At the end of the show they had some one that worked for the airlines explaining everything and the person said that it was up to each individual stewardess rather or not to ask some one to put something like a dirty magazin away and the host of the show said that most women might be to embarrassed to ask some one to do that and it should be banned. I never did she what the breast feeding mom looked like, the one that got kicked of the air plane or if it was a man or woman that complained but if it was a man he would want to she her breast most likely if she was a super model. God gave women breast to feed there children so I think that a woman has a right. Also on that show it talked about that some states do have a law that allows breast feeding in public. All that means is someone can not ask you to leave or cover up. At the time this aired on TV I didn't see my state but all women do a have right the law hasn’t banned it they just don't enforced it either. Let me leave you with this how would you like it if I asked everyone eating to please eat under a blanket????? Like I said I would cover up because I am shy but that is my right. Plus do you see anyone asking people at the local pool to cover up the breast that are hanging out of there swim suit???? Not the men I assure you....... And if it was a woman that got mad well she should just know better!!!!!! P.S I was wondering if someone was going to write something about this.....

Answer 4

It was actually a nation-wide protest. There was a group here in Indiana protesting as well. If I didn't need to go pick up my KG mid-morning then I would have gone with them.

You can breastfeed without "whipping it out" AND without putting up a tent over yourself. I've been doing it for almost 8 years between my three kids. Most of the time people don't know what you are doing. The child covers everything. Would YOU like to eat with a blanket over your head?

In the USA, you have the legal right to breastfeed anywhere that you have the right to be. The airline didn't kick her off for breastfeeding.....they kicked her off for arguing about her rights with the flight attendant. (Welcome to the post-9/11 world.) The flight attendant was wrong to harass her about the blanket. She had the legal right to nurse her child without interference.

Honestly, I think the issue here is that she was nursing a toddler. If she had been nursing a baby, no one would have batted an eye. That's too bad, because nursing toddlers are NORMAL.

She WAS being discreet too.....she was in the back row of the plane by the window with her hubby on the other side of her, from what I understand.

You see MORE breasts on a magazine cover, at the swimming pool or strutting down the red carpet at the Oscars than you see when a mother breastfeeds.

ETA:
Breastfeeding in public is legal in ALL states in the United States. There has been legislation passed *to protect* that right in about 35 (?) states. (NOT to legalize it because it's already legal.)

ETA Once more.....
I meant to include this in the original reply and just realized I left it out. Personally, I think using a blanket or something to cover up just calls MORE attention to what you are doing. It's like putting up a neon sign that says, "NURSING MOM AND BABY....DON'T LOOK!" I think it also implys that you are doing something that is somehow indecent or inappropriate, which it is not.

Those who think using a blanket is so important have probably also never nursed an older baby or toddler who would almost certainly not stand for being covered up like that. Again, you can be discreet WITHOUT putting up a tent. You just have to practice the latching on part.....after that baby covers everything.

Answer 5

Whenever it goes on I just look away.
I think that should be how the whole world deals with it
If you are working at a casino(for example) and as a woman is playing blackjack she starts breast feeding, you should act like nothing has gone wrong.
Nothing is out of the ordinary, you have...gone temporary blind.
If it is a big issue people should realize that the baby needs that nutrition from the woman's breast to grow and be healthy.
So the woman/mother doesnt really have a choice, its either feed the baby, or listen to the baby cry all day and night.
i think its an extra hassle. Especially for the mother, now they must find a dark corner, a closet, the mother has become the next superman, trying to find a safe place to feed their child without insulting others.
These other people like I said should just look away, and let it roll right off them. The woman should sue.

Answer 6

I think it's ridiculous that we Americans make such a big deal out of breastfeeding! This is why so many babies end up being formula fed in America - because there is so much negativity associated with something so natural. In other countries it is just not a big deal for a woman to breastfeed in public - modest or not. It's a shame that women are made to feel embarrassed and ashamed of feeding their children the most natural and best food there is for them. This is one big area where America is behind the times. I feel so happy when I see women breastfeeding in public - showing their boob or not - because I know that their baby is getting the best nourishment possible and that they are forming a beautiful bond with their mother!

FYI - Women who breastfeed are not "flaunting" anything! "Flaunting" is what you see everywhere else you look, like at the mall, on television and on the cover of Cosmo, etc.

Answer 7

Women should be able to feed infants without a hassle--no doubt. But this story is more complicated than it sounds.

For starters, the "baby" was 22 months old. That's right---almost 2 years old. I believe in breastfeeding, but when the kid is old enough to drink from a cup and sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, (no matter how badly) I raise my eyebrows.

Some important facts: The mom is suing the airlines. The airline stewardess who asked her to cover up with a blanket has been disciplined.

The woman was from NM, but the incident happened in VT and it was on a flight operated by "Freedom" for Delta. So Delta is taking a lot of heat for something a subcontractor did which was against their policies.

Answer 8

I breastfeed, and i'm waiting for someone to come and tell me something. This country is the only one with all these hangups about the body. The breast is there to provide nourishment, and the few women that put themselves out to breastfeed should be congratulated, not berated!!! Most guys I talk to about it are slightly uncomfortable with it, BUT they know it's natural, so they just don't look. 9 times out fo 10 it's a woman who's obviously insecure with herself who protests. There is nothing sexual about feeding your baby. Yes, I usually do cover up, but when you have a screaming baby people usually give the parent dirty looks anyway, and when I cover up I still get looks, like people know i'm doing something dirty, I wish these people would say something to me...lol If someone at an airport removed me from the flight because I was feeding my baby, i'd own the airlines. They need to learn a lesson and brush up on their legalities

Answer 9

This was a gross violation of the woman's civil rights. Women have a right to breastfeed anywhere they want in New Mexico, as long as they have a legal right to be somewhere (i.e. are not trespassing on private property). The flight attendant in question was totally wrong in her judgement and Delta is going to get sued for a bundle.

Answer 10

I read that she was sitting in the back of the plan with her husband between her and the isle, most likely as I read, nobody even knew she was doing it except for the flight attendant who was just plain rude. The problem is that many people look at breasts and think of something sexual when in fact the reason that they are there is to feed children. And I'm sorry, but if people don't want to see it, stop gawking.