Engineer and television host Emily Calandrelli arrived on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, October 29, as part of an effort to require the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to enforce a policy that allows parents to bring breast milk, formula and other foodstuffs on planes. She is among many mothers who say they were subjected to surveillance by traveling with breast milk and ice packs. (Photo: Sofia Resnick/States Newsroom)
Last month, Brinda Sen Gupta traveled by plane to work without her baby, but on the way back she had to stock up on gel packs to cold her breast milk. Knowing how complex it can be to get through airport security with breast milk and baby feeding supplies, Sen Gupta arrived extra early and prepared.
Indeed, a U.S. Transportation Security Administration agent objected to Sen Gupta’s gel packs, she said. She took out her phone and showed the TSA screenshot current policy. It comes from A Act of 2016 and states that breast milk, formula, and toddler drinks are considered “medically necessary fluids” and may be carried in carry-on luggage in quantities greater than 3.4 ounces. The policy specifically allows the employ of accessories to cold breast milk and formula, such as ice and gel packs, and states that the baby does not have to be present for the parent to carry them.
Despite the law, women continue to report TSA security problems at airports across the country, saying many workers are untrained in its own policies.
“The TSA agent had to ask his supervisor to come,” Sen Gupta said. The supervisor reviewed the policy and passed on the gel packets, she said, “but it was annoying for me because I had to add extra time before leaving to make sure I could talk to them.”
Sen Gupta was one of several chapter leaders of the national nonprofit organization Mothers’ Chamber in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, October 29, to advocate for the bill’s passage Breastfeeding Bottle and Equipment Improvement Act (BABES).. The bill, introduced in the House by Democrat Eric Swalwell of California, would require an audit by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general within one year of enactment to ensure the policy is enforced and workers are trained to inspect infant feeding supplies in a sanitary manner.
The bill was introduced in Congress three years in a row but failed to pass despite bipartisan support. In May, the bill was first approved by the Senate, where it was co-authored by Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and GOP Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and Ted Cruz of Texas. It advanced in the House of Representatives, where it has 26 co-sponsors, including five Republicans.
“We don’t actually need to change the rules. We need to enforce them, have some oversight of non-compliance and a way to hold them accountable for those mistakes,” said Emily Calandrelli, an engineer and science TV host who drew attention to the problem after her story of being escorted from airport security because of ice packs went viral.
Calandrelli said she wasn’t aware of any significant opposition to the bill in the House, but she wasn’t sure she would gain enough support to move the legislation anytime soon, especially as the federal government shutdown soon enters its second month.
She said she hopes Republican Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, one of the first Republicans to sign on, will gain more members from her party.
“At this point, we need Republicans to really lead the charge to help get to the finish line,” Calandrelli said.
Meanwhile, mothers who shared their recent experiences with TSA during an event at the Chamber of Mothers said parents traveling with infant feeding supplies should prepare for their trip – have their TSA policy ready on their phones and arrive well in advance.
Travel security lines may be even slower and flights may be delayed during a shutdown as well, as federal workers like air traffic controllers and TSA agents work without pay.
Bri Adams, another president of the D.C. chapter of the Chamber of Mothers, said she has struggled with breastfeeding headaches for several years while traveling frequently for work. As a breast milk producer who had to pump frequently to maintain her supply, she found that agents would handle her milk or supplies in an unhygienic manner. Over time, she learned to fight for herself.
“I literally had it saved on my phone, the regulations on the TSA website, ready to go, and I just acted a lot more confident,” Adams said. “That’s what I’m doing. I’m drinking breast milk that’s thawed and frozen at the same time, and you’re letting me go because you can.”
The TSA has not yet responded to requests for comment.
“What would make motherhood easier for you?”
The driver parked the black and red Mothers’ Chamber bus across the street from the U.S. Department of Labor, which would normally mean a lot of pedestrian traffic. However, on the 29th closethe sidewalks and streets were largely empty, absent the usual tourists and federal workers, many of whom were either furloughed without pay or working without pay.
The bus has stopped in nine cities in the last few months. Lexie Wooten said she was at every stop where the group asked moms, “What would make motherhood easier for you?” The overwhelming response was economic support and paid family leave, she added.
Wooten said she feels economic anxiety as Americans brace for cuts to health care and food assistance programs for low-income people, exacerbated by business closures. As stated by Newsroom reportedthe ephemeral loss of food assistance, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, may lead to more pregnancy complications.
“People are broke and that makes it harder,” Wooten said.
Chamber of Mothers CEO Erin Erenberg said the organization now has 43 local chapters in 30 states and about 100,000 members nationwide and is focused on policies to improve access to maternal health care, paid parental leave and affordable child care. Erenberg, who is also an intellectual property attorney, founded the nonprofit in 2021 with a group of other working moms. Paid family leave has been reduced from former President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan. One of the state bills they have been working on since then is the Arizona bill HB 2332the Maternal Mental Health Act, which Gov. Katie Hobbs signed into law in May.
Erenberg said the Trump administration, through the vice president’s office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reached out to her organization to collaborate. But before the group engaged with the White House, it said there were some non-negotiables that included preserving and expanding access to affordable health care, Medicaid and SNAP – all impacted by recent federal spending policies.
“So far, this administration has not shown that it fully supports what we stand for,” Erenberg said. “On pronatalism, we have repeatedly said, great, you want people to have more children?… We need paid leave, we need affordable child care, and we need you to invest in what would actually keep us healthy… and survive childbirth.”
This story was originally produced by News from the USwhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes Pennsylvania Capital-Star, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
