CSSB 297(JUD): "An Act relating to breast-feeding."
00CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 297(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to breast-feeding." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. This Act may be known as the Breast-feeding Promotion and Protection Act 04 of 1998. 05 * Sec. 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 06 (1) the medical profession in the United States recommends that children from 07 birth to the age of one year should be breast-fed unless, under particular circumstances, it is 08 medically inadvisable; 09 (2) despite the recommendation of the medical profession, statistics reveal a 10 declining percentage of mothers who are choosing to breast-feed their babies; 11 (3) many new mothers are now choosing to use formula rather than to breast- 12 feed even before they leave the hospital, and only a small percentage of all mothers are still 13 breast-feeding when their babies are six months old; 14 (4) in addition to the benefit of improving bonding between mothers and their
01 babies, breast-feeding offers better nutrition, digestion, and immunity for babies than does 02 formula-feeding, and it may increase the intelligence quotient of a child; 03 (5) babies who are breast-fed have lower rates of death, meningitis, childhood 04 leukemia and other cancers, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, bacterial and viral infections, 05 diarrheal diseases, otitis media, allergies, obesity, and developmental delays; 06 (6) breast-feeding also provides significant benefits to the health of the mother, 07 including protection against breast cancer and other cancers, osteoporosis, and infections of 08 the urinary tract; 09 (7) the incidence of breast cancer in the United States might be reduced by 25 10 percent if every woman breast-fed all her children until they reached the age of two years; 11 (8) the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund 12 have established as one of their major goals for the decade the encouragement of breast- 13 feeding; 14 (9) the social constraints of modern society weigh against the choice of breast- 15 feeding and lead new mothers with demanding time schedules to choose formula-feeding to 16 avoid embarrassment, social ostracism, or criminal prosecution; and 17 (10) any promotion of family values should encourage public acceptance of 18 this most basic act of nurture between a mother and her baby, and a mother should not be 19 made to feel incriminated or socially ostracized for breast-feeding her child. 20 * Sec. 3. AS 01.10.060(b) is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 21 (b) In the laws of the state, "lewd conduct," "lewd touching," "immoral 22 conduct," "indecent conduct," and similar terms do not include the act of a woman 23 breast-feeding a child in a public or private location where the woman and child are 24 otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether the nipple of the woman's breast 25 is uncovered during or incidental to the breast feeding. Nothing in this subsection may 26 be construed to authorize an act that is an offense under AS 11.61.123. 27 * Sec. 4. AS 11.76 is amended by adding a new section to read: 28 Sec. 11.76.150. Interference with the right to breast-feed. (a) A person 29 commits the offense of interference with the right of a woman to breast-feed a child 30 if the person intentionally prevents or restricts a woman from breast-feeding a child 31 in a common carrier, place of public accommodation, or other place to which the
01 general public is invited and where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to 02 be present, irrespective of whether the nipple of the woman's breast is uncovered 03 during or incidental to the breast feeding. 04 (b) Interference with the right of a woman to breast-feed a child is a violation. 05 * Sec. 5. AS 29.10.200 is amended to read: 06 Sec. 29.10.200. Limitation of home rule powers. Only the following 07 provisions of this title apply to home rule municipalities as prohibitions on acting 08 otherwise than as provided. These provisions supersede existing and prohibit future 09 home rule enactments that provide otherwise: 10 (1) AS 29.05.140 (transition); 11 (2) AS 29.06.010 (change of municipal name); 12 (3) AS 29.06.040 - 29.06.060 (annexation and detachment); 13 (4) AS 29.06.090 - 29.06.170 (merger and consolidation); 14 (5) AS 29.06.190 - 29.06.420 (unification of municipalities); 15 (6) AS 29.06.450 - 29.06.530 (dissolution); 16 (7) AS 29.10.100 (charter amendment); 17 (8) AS 29.20.010 (conflict of interest); 18 (9) AS 29.20.020 (meetings public); 19 (10) AS 29.20.050 (legislative power); 20 (11) AS 29.20.060 - 29.20.120 (assembly composition and 21 apportionment); 22 (12) AS 29.20.140 (qualifications of members of governing bodies); 23 (13) AS 29.20.150 (term of office); 24 (14) AS 29.20.220 (executive power); 25 (15) AS 29.20.270(e) (ordinance veto by mayor); 26 (16) AS 29.20.630 (prohibited discrimination); 27 (17) AS 29.20.640 (reports); 28 (18) AS 29.25.010(a)(10) (municipal exemption on contractor bond 29 requirements); 30 (19) AS 29.25.050 (codification); 31 (20) AS 29.25.060 (resolutions);
01 (21) AS 29.25.080 (breast-feeding); 02 (22) AS 29.26.030 (notice of elections); 03 (23) [(22)] AS 29.26.050 (voter qualification); 04 (24) [(23)] AS 29.26.250 - 29.26.360 (recall); 05 (25) [(24)] AS 29.35.020 (extraterritorial jurisdiction); 06 (26) [(25)] AS 29.35.030 (eminent domain); 07 (27) [(26)] AS 29.35.050 (garbage and solid waste services); 08 (28) [(27)] AS 29.35.055 (local air quality control program); 09 (29) [(28)] AS 29.35.060 (franchises and permits); 10 (30) [(29)] AS 29.35.070 (public utilities); 11 (31) [(30)] AS 29.35.080 (alcoholic beverages); 12 (32) [(31)] AS 29.35.120 (post audit); 13 (33) [(32)] AS 29.35.131 (enhanced 911 system); 14 (34) [(33)] AS 29.35.145 (regulation of firearms); 15 (35) [(34)] AS 29.35.160 (education); 16 (36) [(35)] AS 29.35.170(b) (assessment and collection of taxes); 17 (37) [(36)] AS 29.35.180(b) (land use regulation); 18 (38) [(37)] AS 29.35.250 (cities inside boroughs); 19 (39) [(38)] AS 29.35.260 (cities outside boroughs); 20 (40) [(39)] AS 29.35.340 (acquisition of areawide power); 21 (41) [(40)] AS 29.35.500 - 29.35.590 (hazardous materials and wastes); 22 (42) [(41)] AS 29.40.160(a) - (c) (title to vacated areas); 23 (43) [(42)] AS 29.40.200 (subdivisions of state land); 24 (44) [(43)] AS 29.45.010 - 29.45.570 (property taxes); 25 (45) [(44)] AS 29.45.650(c), (d), (e), and (f) (sales and use tax); 26 (46) [(45)] AS 29.45.700(d) (sales and use tax); 27 (47) [(46)] AS 29.47.200(b) (security for bonds); 28 (48) [(47)] AS 29.47.260 (construction); 29 (49) [(48)] AS 29.47.470 (air carriers); 30 (50) [(49)] AS 29.60.050(a) (limitation on computation and use of 31 payment);
01 (51) [(50)] AS 29.60.120(a) and (c) (priority revenue sharing for health 02 facilities and hospitals); 03 (52) [(51)] AS 29.65 (general grant land); 04 (53) [(52)] AS 29.71.040 (procurement preference for state agricultural 05 and fisheries products); 06 (54) [(53)] AS 29.71.050 (procurement preference for recycled Alaska 07 products). 08 * Sec. 6. AS 29.25 is amended by adding a new section to read: 09 Sec. 29.25.080. Breast-feeding. A municipality may not enact an ordinance 10 that prohibits or restricts a woman breast-feeding a child in a public or private location 11 where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be. In a municipal ordinance, 12 "lewd conduct," "lewd touching," "immoral conduct," "indecent conduct," and similar 13 terms do not include the act of a woman breast-feeding a child in a public or private 14 location where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of 15 whether the nipple of the woman's breast is uncovered during or incidental to the 16 breast feeding. Nothing in this section may be construed to authorize an act that is an 17 offense under a municipal ordinance that establishes an offense with elements 18 substantially equivalent to the elements of an offense under AS 11.61.123. This 19 section is applicable to home rule and general law municipalities. 20 * Sec. 7. AS 44.83.990(4) is amended to read: 21 (4) "person" includes a public agency in addition to the entities set out 22 in AS 01.10.060(a)(8) [AS 01.10.060(8)];