Despite some senators fretting about “weird things” and “strange people,” legislation to remove the current age limit for breast-feeding in public was approved by committees of the state House and Senate on Wednesday.
“Is 35 a child?” asked Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson. “I know that sounds crazy, but I’m thinking of a situation in a bar where maybe things got a little crazy. … I know I’m going way out on a fringe thinking a 14-year-old, but weird things happen in our society.”
Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, declaring that “at some point there should be some sort of line,” proposed an amendment to allow public breast-feeding up to age 3.
“There are a lot of strange people in this world,” Campfield said.
But Campfield’s amendment was voted down after the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mike Faulk, R-Kingsport, said it was wrong for government to set an “arbitrary” limit on a matter that should be between a mother and her child.
“In the first place, why would a mother be charged with indecent exposure for breast-feeding a child and why would that be the business of the state?” Faulk asked. “And … who’s going to ID the child to determine if they’re 1 year or not?”
The 1-year age limit for children being breast-fed in public was set by a 2006 law. Dr. Julie Ware, a Memphis pediatrician and author of a book on breast-feeding, told the committee that Tennessee is the only state in the nation with an age limit on breast-feeding.
She conceded that the instance of a 5-year-old being breast-fed, as cited by one legislator, would be “out of the ordinary” and perhaps cause a stir, but is not really relevant.
“The intent of this bill is to focus on what is natural and normal and not what is out of the realm,” she said.
The bill — SB83 — was eventually approved 7-1 by the Senate General Welfare Committee, with Campfield abstaining.
In contrast, the measure prompted very little discussion by the House Health Committee before it was approved unanimously under sponsorship of Rep. Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville.
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