> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Mothers nurse their rights - URL: https://www.smdp.com/mothers-nurse-their-rights/ - Published: 2002-07-18T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:32:15.000Z - Author: Andrew Fixmer - Tags: Health, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Women respond to mother who was asked to cover up or leave mall* About 75 mothers publicly nursed their children in the food court of Santa Monica Place Mall on Wednesday to protect their breast-feeding rights. The event was staged in response to Los Angeles resident Abbe Dotson, who was breast-feeding her 5-month-old daughter, Ruby, and was asked to cover up or leave the mall last month by a security guard. But California law, along with every other state in the country, has passed laws protecting a woman’s right to breast feed in public. Unlike many other states, California also allows women to sue anyone that blocks them from breast feeding their children. Because Dotson didn’t have a blanket to cover up the act, she had to leave the mall. As she left, Dotson was watched by the guard as she exited the building. When she called the mall’s security department the following week, she said nobody knew breast-feeding publicly is a protected act. That’s when the idea of holding a “Nurse-in” was organized. 3EB,“I want women to feel like they can make the choice to breast-feed and not to feel obscene,” she said. “The most natural aspect of a woman’s breast is nourishment, but when we do we are made to feel obscene.” Instead of filing a lawsuit against the Macerich Co., which owns and operates the mall, Dotson contacted the California Women’s Law Center to help her organize the event in an effort to raise awareness about of women’s rights. Most of the women, who came from the Los Angeles area, heard about the event by word of mouth and decided to be part of it. In an unsigned press statement, Macerich Co. said it recognizes women have a right to breast-feed in public and said its employees will be informed of the state law. “Macerich and our shopping centers wholeheartedly support California laws protecting a mother’s right to breast-feed in public,” the company’s statement reads. “Families are important to us not only in California but also in the many communities we serve across the country.” The company said it has built “family restrooms” with special diaper changing stations and “quiet breast-feeding areas” in many of its newly renovated malls. However, there are no breast-feeding facilities at Santa Monica Place. Many of the mothers at the event said they had never been ostracized because of their breast-feeding and they were startled to hear of Dotson’s experience. “I was surprised it happened, especially in Santa Monica where it’s so progressive,” said Patty Martyn of West Hills. “But hopefully this sends a strong message to the entire community.” Others said they think the law is a testament to the United States’ puritan heritage that women have to be protected by law in order to breast-feed their children. “It’s a funny thing to think you have to be protected to feed your baby,” said Michelle Roberts of Culver City. “It seems funny to me that we would even need that law.” However, California Women’s Law Center statistics indicate women are increasingly being asked to cover up or not breast-feed in public. The group’s senior staff attorney Nancy M. Solomon said in the past seven months there have been at least six incidents reported to them throughout the Los Angeles area. “It’s legal to breast-feed in public — period,” she said. “You can’t ask them to cover up or ask them to go into a bathroom.” The California Women’s Law Center successfully sued Borders Books over a similar incident in LA area. The Los Angeles-based center settled the case after the company agreed to retrain its staff of the state law. Santa Monica pediatrician, Dr. Jay N. Gordon, said children who are breast-fed turn out to be healthier and more intelligent than those who are not. “It has been well established that breast milk is the best form of nutrition and the optimum protection against disease for infants,” he said. Dr. Gordon said breast-fed babies’ immune systems, and children who are breast fed have lower rates of meningitis, diabetes, allergies and obesity while women who breast feed experience healthy weight loss, lower rates of post-partum anemia, and reduced risk of breast and other cancers. Mothers at the event said breast-feeding has made them feel much more healthy. “It builds a stronger, healthier baby and it helps the mother feel much more natural,” said Kristen Hayed of Thousand Oaks. “We should make it as easy as possible for a woman to breast-feed.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/071802-01_01.jpg) Nearly 100 mothers held a ‘nurse-in’ at Santa Monica Place Mall on Wednesday to send the message that it’s OK to breast-feed in public. (Photo: Andrew H. Fixmer/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/071802-01_02.jpg) Nearly 100 mothers held a ‘nurse-in’ at Santa Monica Place Mall on Wednesday to send the message that it’s OK to breast-feed in public. (Photo: Andrew H. Fixmer/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 18, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071802.pdf?ref=smdp.com)