Published Thursday, June 8, 2006 in East Valley Opinions of the Arizona Republic as “Killed bills would have protected moms, kids.”
As the state legislature winds down, bills start flying through the process. As that happens, you should compare what bills get sent to the governor with two bills were killed by two dads from Gilbert in the state legislature that would have protected mothers and children.
Sometimes the public process functions well. Amy Milliron went from ordinary mom to successful activist overnight. Last summer she was breast feeding her infant son at a public pool in Chandler when she was asked by a lifeguard to do her feeding in the bathroom facilities in the future. As Amy wasn’t keen on feeding her child near toilets, she took action. Soon she was confronting the city of Chandler over the rights of mothers to breast feed, and then it was on to Tempe, where she lives, for similar action. Both efforts succeeded.
She addressed my class in January as she was about to embark on the less predictable path of seeking statewide protection. Behind Amy’s movement were legions of breast feeding moms who contacted legislators and showed up en masse with their children at a picnic at the capitol in February. Though it took three months, by mid-April the legislation (HB2376) had sailed through the process and been signed into law by the governor. Only three legislators out of 90 voted “no,” two of whom were our two Gilbert dads, Rep. Eddie Farnsworth (R-Gilbert) and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Gilbert). Read the rest of this entry »