Lots of our commenters seem incensed that I questioned whether Sarah Palin will be campaigning with a breast pump in tow. But clearly she doesn’t think that’s a taboo subject herself. In an interview with People magazine last week, Palin said:
We don’t sleep much. Too much to do. What I’ve had to do, though, is in the middle of the night, put down the BlackBerries and pick up the breast pump.
If Palin really wants to be a trailblazer she should truck that thing out in public, so that at least all TSA screeners will finally be able to distinguish them from bombs. And for those who think pumping breast milk is solely a private matter, you couldn’t be more wrong. Legislation is pending in several states (as is litigation), to give women the right to pump on the job. Last year, New Mexico passed a bill that requires employers to give women breaks and a clean, private space in which they can pump breast milk. That bill was signed by Gov. Bill Richardson, a man who happens to be a Democrat, but who in one stroke of a pen seems to have done a lot more for the women and children in his state than Palin has done for hers.
