Breast Pumps are now considered a "security risk"

I hope she sues the pants off them.

Seeing that one can't bring liquids on to a flight for some time now I don't think the breast pump was the issue but rather the ice packs. 

 In fact the article pointed out that she could have boarded the flight if she checked the machine or left the ice packs at the gate. (A bit of selective reporting there Ghislaine)

The rules are the rules when it comes to security and she is not exempt  from them because she is an MLA. She was given options to make the flight but she chose not to comply. 

  It doesn't make any difference that she's an MLA and thusly needing 'special' treatment.  That's not the point at all and not what Kwan is saying and not why she was annoyed.    I'd be just as annoyed and appalled if this story came out about any woman no matter what her job might be. 

  Though more then likely we're hearing about this because she happens to be an MLA.  I wonder how many times something like this has happened to other women before it was deemed 'newsworthy.'  I'm glad that it's getting the attention it deserves.  

Yes, I do think the rules themselves are stupid but that's not all that's being discussed here.

1. Breastfeeding is not a "medical condition" but a normal part of many women's lives and, hence, public places, processes and facilities must (not should nor may but must) make adjustments accordingly.

2. I agree that the fact that Ms. Kwan is an MLA is irrelevant except for the light that has been shone on this matter because of her public status. I, too, wonder how many women have been subjected to this treatment and stayed silent because they were powerless, as ultimately was Ms. Kwan, in the situation.

3. Leftyboy, I'm not sure where your facts came from around the amount of milk a lactating woman's body produces but the reality is that our bodies, when lactating, make milk in response to demand. If there are frequent and long feedings, women's breasts make more milk. If there are longer periods of not feeding, the amount of milk produced goes down. Further to that, breastpumps, even the expensive high-tech ones which do the best job, do not adequately simulate suckling and thus, despite frequent pumping, the volume of milk available will go down. How fast that happens depends on a number of factors. If Ms. Kwan experiences frequent separations from her baby, as well she may as an MLA, she needs to pump frequently to maintain an adequate supply, both at the breast and in the freezer, of milk available for her child. Also, as mentioned in the article, women who do not nurse or pump regularly run the risk of plugged milk ducts or further along the process, mastitis, a painful breast infection. There are lot of references for this information and I will provide them if requested.

4. As to airport security, aside from the fact that I think the whole system has gone mad, the reality is that those who do this work have the authority to exercise judgement in situations that don't fit the norm. That doesn't appear to have happened here and a decision was made that has every appearance of discriminating against Ms. Kwan as a woman.

Quote:

As far as I am concerned breast feeding is a not the issue here as a
woman has the right to breast feed anywhere at any time. Period. 

This is a story about a woman who didn't want the inconvenience of checking a bag. 

You have proven a couple times in this thread that you know nothing about breastfeeding. If you truely believe that "a woman has the right to breastfeed anywhere anytime. Period." and you had even the slightest clue about what breastfeeding involved you would know that a breast pump is part of that "anywhere anytime" that you so valiantly defend. Not unlike other anti-breastfeeders (I'm reminded of the recent case in the Toronto area of a woman asked to not breastfeed in a pool and people carting out their amateur health research about the dangers to the infant of breastfeeding in pool water) you declare that this has nothing to do with a woman's right to breastfeed and everything to do with whatever the red hearing issue may be.

I agree, Martin.

At the risk of wasting my breath, leftyboy, you reveal your lack of knowledge on the subject of breastfeeding and how lack of accomodation affects women's equality.

Electronic devices, as carry-through luggage, are not banned. People bring computers and cell phones through security all the time. Airport security long ago figured out how to accomodate the needs of business travellers (surprise, they are mostly men who would not tolerate being separated from their laptops or cells). Hence, your declaration about electronic devices being a banned is wrong.

So, Ms. Kwan had one "no-no", and security could have and should have made accomodation.

Let me ask you this -- what happened to all those folks on the Air Canada flight who sat on the tarmac in the plane for over 10 hours over Christmas time? They had no access to their checked luggage - what would have been the result for Ms. Kwan in those circumstances? She does not chronically suffer from lactation mastitis but many lactating women who cannot relieve themselves of the milk being produced will -- this incident displays a remarkable lack of knowledge of women, combined with a remarkable lack of awareness around the need to accomodate.

This incident is reflective of ignorance and control.