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Infants Right to Be Breast-Fed
The major question that remains is: Do infants have a right to be breast-fed?
What is the relationship between the mother s interest in breast-feeding and the
infant s interest in being breast-fed? How are the mother s rights related to the
infant s rights?
At times, the mother and the infant may have conflicting interests in relation
to feeding. The conflict is raised in clear relief when it is argued not only that the
infant has a right to be well nourished but, more specifically, that the infant has
a right to be breast-fed. Such a right could clash with the woman s right to choose
how to feed her infant.
Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child says,  In all actions con-
cerning children . . . the best interests of the child shall be a primary considera-
tion. Combining this with the observation that breast-feeding is better for in-
fants health than alternative methods of feeding, some argue that infants have a
right to be breast-fed.
Although it is true that decisions must include consideration of the best in-
terests of the child, that need not be the only factor considered. Moreover, it is as-
sumed that normally the parents judge what is in the child s best interests. The
position taken here is that the state should interfere in the parent child relation-
ship only in extraordinary situations, when there is extremely compelling evi-
dence that the parents are acting contrary to the best interests of the child. This
point is elaborated further in the following chapter.
Those who press the view that the infant should be viewed as having the right
to be breast-fed center their argument on the point that breast-feeding is almost
always best for the health of the infant. I do not dispute that. In my view, the
di~culties arise out of a misunderstanding of the nature of human rights and
the proper role of government. Human rights generally are not intended to pre-
scribe optimal behavior, but rather to place outer limits, saying it should not go
beyond certain extremes. Thus, people are allowed to smoke and eat unhealthy
food, and to buy their children cheeseburgers, even though these things are not
best for them.
By definition, human rights are universal. The law and principles do not vary
from country to country, from place to place. However, national and local legis-
latures are free to formulate legal requirements appropriate to their particular lo-
cal circumstances, provided they do not conflict with general human rights law
and principles.
The infant has great interests at stake, but few resources to be used to press
for preferred outcomes. Given the infant s powerlessness, it is sensible to use the
law to help ensure that the best interests of the infant are served. However,
though it is surely appropriate to use the law to protect the infant from outsiders
feeding infants 171
with conflicting interests, it is not reasonable to use the law to compel an unwill-
ing mother to breast-feed, or to prevent a willing mother from breast-feeding. The
view here corresponds to that o’
ered in the Journal of Human Lactation:
Mothers are not mandated to breastfeed, but governments are mandated
to educate mothers, to support their use of education, and to assume that
they will act in the best interest of their children. Governments have the re-
sponsibility to inform so that parents can make informed choices for their
children. (Bar-Yam 2003, 359; also see Kent 2004)
Thus, for the purposes of framing appropriate law, the woman and infant can
be viewed as generally having a shared interest in the infant s well-being. From
the human rights perspective, the major concern is with protecting the
woman infant unit from outside interference.
Mothers should remain free to feed their infants as they wish, in consultation
with other family members. In normal circumstances, outsiders should refrain
from doing anything that might interfere with a mother s freely made, informed
decision. Mothers should have appropriate and accurate information available to
them so that they can make informed decisions. This is the approach taken in the
International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The code is not de- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]