29 Jul 2012 Statement by Project 21’s Cherylyn Harley LeBon on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s

New Plan to Give New Mothers Who Don’t Exclusively Breastfeed a ‘Talking-To’ Each and Every Time They Feed Their Baby Formula

Washington, D.C. – Project 21’s Cherylyn Harley LeBon has issued the following statement regarding New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest foray into beverage restrictions: Locking up baby formula and giving government “talking-tos” to hospitalized mothers each and every time they feed formula to their baby:

Mayor Bloomberg’s latest, his Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, is part of Bloomberg’s mode of reducing choice for New Yorkers and continuing to chip away at the free market.

According to a CBS report, the initiative will help hospitals educate mothers on the benefits of breastfeeding over baby formula. The program is also sponsored by the World Health Organization which recommends that mothers breastfeed for six months.

As a mother who breastfed her children for an extended period of time, I completely support breastfeeding our babies; however, that is entirely a mother’s choice and one which should be made in cooperation with the baby’s pediatrician and her own physician.

Mayor Bloomberg is now playing the role of pediatrician and neo-natal specialist. While it is great to encourage breastfeeding, the reality is that some women may not want to breastfeed their baby and is simply their choice. The government should not force them to do it.

Thus far, 27 of the city’s 40 hospitals have also agreed that they will document a medical reason for every bottle of formula that a newborn receives. Essentially, a mother is now forced to breastfeed unless she has a medical reason for not doing so. This is just bad policy pure and simple.

Cherylyn Harley LeBon, an attorney and mother of two, is a member of the Project 21 National Advisory Board. During the first six months of 2012, representing Project 21, Cherylyn has been quoted by newspapers 71 times, been a guest on radio or television shows 52 times, and had op-eds she has written published by newspapers 14 times. Cherylyn is President and CEO of KLAR Strategies, LLC, a public affairs firm. She previously served as a political appointee in the George W. Bush Administration; as a spokesman at the Republican National Committee; and as Senior Counsel for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. She is a frequent guest on the FOX News Channel and national broadcast radio shows, and is a contributor to Townhall and Politicalistas. Follow her on Twitter @HarleyLeBon.

Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for nearly two decades, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research (https://nationalcenter.org).

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