I would've thought The Handmaid's Tale would be the dystopian future that came to mind.

More Handmaid's Tale than Soylent Green perhaps.

To these bastards, we're aquariums, that's all.

ummmm... What about the women who have trouble breastfeeding either due to difficulty latching, low or no production, or any other number of issues? Seriously, this is why most hospitals has lactation consultants meet with new moms before they leave the hospital, because it's not as easy as stick boob in baby's face and milksplosion! I wish I could have breastfed my daughter but I had to give it up after 2 weeks of NOTHING COMING OUT!
These laws designed by politicians, NOT DOCTORS, with no information about the reality of women's health, birth control, abortion, nursing, or other medical issues do absolutely nothing to improve the health and well being of the populace. They only serve to push a political agenda which is usually rooted in religious dogma.

Wow. That story about Texas... is just so horrifying. I can't even make a Texas joke.

Is breastfeeding in public legal in the UAE?

Pick up that can, citizen!

We have to fight to feed our enfants in public here. They have the same problem in the UAE. The big difference? Breastfeeding is being forced on them and ridiculed by us. The effect is the same, giving up the right to be the type of mother you choose to be in public and private.
Texas is actually sadder then Arkansas at this point.

#16 is full of shit, as gun nuts always are:

"The evidence suggests that on average, having a gun actually increases the likelihood that a person will be injured or killed, rather than that it will be used to protect that individual from harm. If you own a gun, the most likely person you are to shoot is yourself. The next most likely person you are to shoot is a close family member. Homes with guns are a dozen times more likely to have household members or guests killed or injured by the weapon than by an intruder.The odds are much greater that the gun will be used against you or a loved one than that it will be used against an armed assailant or an intruder. Firearms are more often discharged in a homicide, suicide or an accident, than in self-defense."
http://www.examiner.com/article/possessi…
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.11…

Ooops, wrong thread.

What percentage of women even bother to vote? And what percentage of women actually accept these things? That will give you some answers.

Personal autonomy FAIL.

I'd say this is like making it a law that all women and girls have to use one type of menstruation maintenance supply (only tampons or only pads) but it's so much worse than that. So much worse.

Definitely on the slippery side of the 'forced organ donation--anti-abortion rights' slope.

I had a good faith conversation with a forced-birther wherein she acknowledged that, while we (and many others) have to agree to disagree, we both have our own opinions about abortion. Further in the discussion, I said, "that is exactly why I prefer the law to be INCLUSIVE instead of EXCLUSIVE--when abortion is legal, both of our opinions are valid and we are both free to make choices that we believe are right for ourselves and no one else can tell us otherwise, one way or another". She even agreed that not everyone is religious or believes the same things and that we both respect other women's opinions; only she couldn't extrapolate that consensus to keeping abortion legal.

Because, due to her religiosity, she doesn't REALLY respect other women's opinions, their beliefs, or, particularly, their personal autonomy, when it comes down to the law.

Your amniotic sack is full of holes; it's leaking fluid.

Oh, wait; woops, sorry. I meant to say: your argument is full of holes, there's not a drop of water in it!

So basically they're legislating what many people here shame socially mothers for not doing?

It's such a weird tension ... shaming women for doing something entirely natural and fine (you're a disgusting deviant for exposing your boobs in public) and then shaming them also for not doing it because they can't or don't want to (you're a negligent mother who doesn't care about the health of her child). Is the best of both worlds co-oercing women into how they use their bodies, but you know, at home? Thanks.

(Formula-fed here. Not given the "best start possible." Might as well have been left in the woods, exposed to wolves.)

Gross male entitlement: bound to show up in the comments on a post about state infringement of women's personal autonomy in the context of reproductive choice that is specific to their breasts.

Because boobies! beget boners. Forget about the actual women. Forget about babies.

Boobies! Boners! Boobies!

Boners! Boners! Boners!

Women reduced to their body parts. Must be a Tuesday.

But think of the children! This law will cause more babies to grow up healthy and strong.

@14,

It's a difference of a few IQ points and a small benefit to your overall health. I think you'll do fine.

You know - your tax dollars keep those people in power.

Just saying.

Somehow, it doesn't sound as bad when not being summarized by Danielle. I kind of like the idea of special child rights laws.

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/health/fnc…
FNC committee adds breastfeeding clause to UAE’s Child Rights Law

Ola Salem
December 17, 2013
Every child has the right to be breast fed, Federal National Council members say.

The requirement has been added to the new child protection law by the FNC’s Health, Labour and Social Affairs committee.

“This is the right of every child for two years,” said Sultan Al Sammahi, a committee member.

Abandoned and orphaned children should also be covered, he said. “If they do not have a mother or have been neglected, then they should get this right from someone else.”

He said this could be accomplished using wet nurses.

Mr Al Sammahi said breastfeeding was crucial for a child’s development, and referred to studies that had established a link between the two.

He acknowledged that it would be difficult to check that the law was being complied with, but he said if complications arose or it came to light that mothers were neglecting their duties, they could be subject to punishment.

“For instance, with the driving law, you have to have your seatbelt on, but it does not mean that every single person does. If they are caught, then they are fined. It will be the same with this,” he said. “If anything, the law will encourage breastfeeding.”
......
He said the intent of the law was that breast feeding should be a duty, not an option, for all able mothers.

“Laws are not all about fines and penalties, some are also humane,” he said.

The committee also added a clause requiring the Government to spread awareness of breastfeeding and its benefits.

To enable working mothers to breast feed, the law will require Government entities to have a nursery on their premises. Although this has been a requirement for several years, it has never been enforced.

For now, Mr Al Shamsi said working mothers should make use of the daily hour when they are entitled to leave work to breast feed.

Although many new mothers breast feed in hospital, those who find it difficult switch to formula when they return home. Most mothers in the UAE stop breast feeding after about six months.

Remember: Just like Soylent Green, America is *People*!

@20:

"If complications arose or it came to light that mothers were neglecting their duties, they could be subject to punishment."

Punishment for not breastfeeding "doesn't sound as bad" to you?

@22, considering the punishment could be as simple as mandatory instruction on why breastfeeding is considered important, yes. It's not like punishment = imprisonment and cutting off body parts.

Texas is due for a popular backlash. We are witnessing the death throes of the reactionary wing. (I hope)

Texas is due for a popular backlash. We are witnessing the death throes of the reactionary polity.(I hope)

Ugh. Android POS

@23: Punishment - any punishment - is coercion. This is the state telling a woman what she must do with her own body. You don't see a problem with that?

But coupling a law in the UAE with another law in Texas is not a meaningful intellectual exercise. It's possible to point out that two laws in two places are bad without trolling it to the point that you're inventing imaginary jurisdictions.

I refer you to a Venn diagram of the laws of Texas and the laws of the UAE.

@27,
They were creating a system of rights for babies. They made a law (with little way to enforce it) saying that babies should be given the best nutrition for their bodies in a way that re-enforces the family bond. There are options for women not able or desiring to meet this demand, but they are looking at it from an infant health perspective. Are you saying the UAE mothers should be able to feed babies beer and pizza if they wish to do so ?

I haven't been able to find the law's text in a way I can read, but I don't think anything precludes the father from buying up breast milk and feeding the child. I'm not even sure the mother is the party that would be blamed if the baby was being fed pizza and beer instead of breast milk.

@31: It is possible to promote breastfeeding, and overall good care and nutrition for babies, without passing a law dictating it.

Pretty much the entire history of human civilization has been a feminist dystopia. This is nothing new.

ChefJoe has to be trolling.

Otherwise...in response to all your BS: I have a friend who has been on dialysis and the kidney donation list for a long time; she's young and otherwise fit. She's costing taxpayers a lot of money. Wouldn't it be better for everyone, especially for her and her individual health, if, after forcing everyone to be tested for donation matches, YOU were forced, having been identified as a match, to donate one of your kidneys to her?

That sounds radical, but in our patriarchal social hierarchy, that is the reality for women and girls--we are public property; to be used and policed by anyone, apparently including you, but never ourselves.

Personal autonomy: no one can force you to make your body available to anyone else. Consent: applies in all contexts, not just sexual ones.

Human rights, yo. They're a thing for a reason. Thank fuck you have no actual authority to infringe upon mine. Fuck off very much.