Thursday, March 20, 2008

Breastmilk as a Human Right

It's always interesting to read news articles from other countries. The perspective is just... different. Take this one from India, for example:
Can fashionable young women who do not breast feed be pulled up for violation of human rights of the child? Alleging that many young women influenced by television ads on bras are not breastfeeding to maintain their breasts, CPI(M) member in Lok Sabha Varkala Radhakrishnan on Wednesday said: "It (denial of breast milk) is human rights violation."

Maintaining that "breast milk is not just the only wholesome food, but also the child's right", Radhakrishnan said that "breastfeeding must be strictly enforced".

Link: Breast milk denial is human rights violation.

3 comments:

grass said...

Interesting idea. However, even as an avidly pro-breastfeeding mother, I have to say the rights of the child cannot trump those of the mother to decide what to do with her body.

Dee said...

Hey you might find this interesting http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/lifeatwork/2008/03/25/breastfeeding-at-work-its-all-good/

Anonymous said...

seriously... could we get any more crazy.
If the mother wants to breastfeed then GREAT.
However, I have to agree with "grass" and say that the baby does not dictate what the mother should do.
And...on another note, this is just another way government would be running our lives.
It is freedom to choose that makes this country great.
As much as I would be heartbroken that the mother would choose not to, it is still her choice.
If we go that far as to regulate breastfeeding, then why couldn't we regulate the taking of life from unborn babies and say that it is their right to live.
(which in my opinion should be the case, however, this is how our government works and next thing you know..we will be told that if we don't eat three meals a day and one snack, we will be fined)
We should all have the freedom to choose; I just hope that those choices are driven by the right things.