[url=http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/] This [/url] is ridiculous.
NDP MLA Jenny Kwan was trying to board a plane to Kamploops on Tuesday, was barred and missed her flight as her breast pump was labelled a "security risk":
“It was a potential weapon of mass destruction,” said the NDP house leader, who was prevented from attending caucus meetings in Kamloops.
“It’s a breast pump with specialized ice packs.”
The Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA gave birth four-and-a-half months ago to baby boy, Renan. Since then she has breast fed him, often expressing her milk with a pump and storing it for feeding later.
Kwan said she did not check in luggage for the 8:15 a.m. flight to Kamloops because she was booked to return in the early evening to Vancouver.
“I thought, ‘OK, I’ll walk on and carry my purse and breast pump.’ I didn’t think it would cause a problem. I’ve done it before when I brought my child.”
But security officials at Vancouver International Airport became anxious when the unit went through a scanner. Kwan said she spoke to a supervisor and a manager, both of whom were suspicious why she would carry a breast pump and ice packs, but have no baby with her.
Perhaps because a postpartum woman still needs to pump even if her baby is at home?
Kwan suffered lactational mastitis — blocked milk ducts — when she nursed her daughter, Cee-Yan, now five, after letting too much time pass before breast feeding or expressing her milk. As a result she is meticulous about her schedule.
“I didn’t want to leave my breast pump with anybody. There’s too much risk.”