Senator Montgomery and Assemblyman Crespo's bill to provide jury duty exemption for breastfeeding women passes Assembly

Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Assemblyman Marcos Crespo's legislation to provide jury duty exemption for breastfeeding women passes Assembly (S748/A5424). This legislation provides breastfeeding mothers with the ability to be excused from jury duty and is a common sense approach to helping mother and child at a critical time.

Jury duty exerts its demands on all who are called to serve, including women who are breastfeeding their infants. In an effort to protect the health the child, it is imperative that a mechanism is created that allows a physician to explain why an excuse from jury duty should be accepted and facilitated. Many women have decided to breastfeed their infants as a matter of promoting better health of their new-born based on the undeniable evidence which shows breastfeeding as superior nutrition for the devel- opment of the infant's brain and immune system. Jury duty interferes with these efforts at a critical time in the development of a child's cognitive and cerebral formation. No form of public service should over- ride a mother's primary responsibility and care of her infant child.