Nursing mothers in Taipei City will no longer need to scramble to find a place to breastfeed their babies starting Thursday after the Public Breastfeeding Regulation (公共場所母乳哺育自治條例) takes effect, but advocates yesterday said the central government must quickly follow suit in protecting the rights of mothers to breastfeed in public nationwide.
The new regulation stipulates that nursing mothers are allowed to breastfeed in all public spaces without having to go to a designated room. Anyone who tries to prevent a nursing mother from breastfeeding in public will be subjected to a fine of between NT$5,000 and NT$30,000.
“We are happy to have Taipei City's support and we urge the central government to enact a national law so that nursing mothers across Taiwan can enjoy the same rights and protections,” said Lin Chun-yi (林君怡), president of the Breastfeeding Association of Taiwan.
Lin said that although many public spaces, such as train and metro stations, rest stops and companies have designated breastfeeding rooms, “there are simply not enough because babies, especially newborns, need feeding all the time.”
She acknowledged that some mothers might be too embarrassed to bare their breasts in public and others shy away from public breastfeeding concerned over how their husbands might react.
“There are many techniques and even clothes or wraps that mothers can use without fully exposing themselves so others cannot tell when they are breastfeeding,” she added.
A draft of the regulation has been submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review.
Democratic Progressive Party Lawmaker Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) who sits on the Sanitation, Environment and Social Welfare Committee said Department of Health officials and a few committee members will discuss the draft next week to hash out a preliminary consensus before bringing it to the committee for a formal review.
Lee Pei-chun (李霈君), a 31 year-old mother said she does not mind breastfeeding her baby in public but “the real issue is not the absences of a national law,” she said. “It's the lack of public awareness that breastfeeding on the streets is as normal as eating a bowl of noodles.”
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS