Although New York state has a Breastfeeding Mothers' Bill of Rights that offers comprehensive protection to ensure that a mother and child's breastfeeding journey has appropriate accommodations within employment and healthcare settings, there are no legal protections for breastfeeding mothers and their children within the parameters of the Family Court of the State of New York. 

We, the people, are demanding education and change to prevent lengthy separation of mother and child by the family court system in the name of father's rights - as breastfeeding is often seen as a negative and unnecessary aspect of maternal parenting. Breastfeeding is a human right. 

A father's rights should not supercede a breastfed baby's rights to have their needs met via the very act that they are biologically hardwired for.

Any empathetic person would want to promote co-parenting to ensure that breastfed children are not adversely affected by maternal separation. Contrary to the "kids are resilient" myth, studies have shown that ripping a breastfeeding infant from their mother - even temporarily - has deep and profound consequences of irreversible damage via their body's stress responses that can impede their normal brain development and function.

The fact of the matter is that breastfed babies are different than their bottle/formula fed counterparts in terms of maternal separation. Furthermore, breastfeeding only occurs for a very short time of a child's eighteen years. Therefore, it's preposterous to assume that breastfeeding occurs as a means to block paternal access. 

In conclusion, the family court's ignorance about breastfeeding being an optional part of maternal parenting is harming breastfed children by violating their rights to natural development, security, and their overall wellbeing. Judges should be required to have education through information from the leading experts regarding the numerous benefits of breastfeeding, as well as the long-term negative impacts that forced weaning/separation causes. Furthermore, legislative changes should reflect this pressing matter.

"Lorenzo's Law" will protect breastfeeding infants from lengthy separation from their mothers with appropriate nursing breaks to ensure that weaning occurs naturally, or as decided by mother and child - without the interference of the family court system.