Oct 07
18
Harvard Women Wins Breast Feeding Fight
A Harvard student of medicine has won a court battle for additional “break period” time to be able to pump breast milk for her breast feeding infant during a lengthy medical exam she had to take. I’m curious as to why this even had to be a battle in court.. it seems like it would be a pretty clear cut decision to allow her the additional break time, especially if it was secure and there was no way she’d be gaining an advantage competitively in taking the exam.Â
The most appalling part of this is that the national board of medical examiners is not willing to take the verdict, which has already been taken to a higher court of appeals, laying down. They clearly do not want to afford the defendant the extra hour of break time to do her breast feeding and pumping duties, so they are going to be taking this to the next higher court of appeals again. Wow, I’m wondering how they think this is going to be a competitive advantage for the woman, or what their purpose is in taking this so far?
Sophie Currier, the mother who is fighting for the extra hour of break time must be surprised at what lengths the medical board is going to to prevent her from having the additional time to breast pump, which quite frankly seems pretty reasonable to ask for. Not only is it unreasonable to not allow her this for purposes of caring for her infant and her rights as a woman, but it also can cause Ms. Currier significant discomfort and even inhibit her test taking abilities if she does not pump on schedule, as any woman who has ever pumped breast milk I’m sure can attest.Â
The medical board’s concerns over the extra hour, they say, are that they have only afforded other breast feeding mothers the standard 45 minutes and nothing more, and they would hate to not be fair and give Ms. Currier more, as it would not be equal to other breast feeding mothers who have taken the exam, who they say have found the standard time allotment for break sufficient and never complained.Â
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