A Republican state lawmaker apologized Tuesday for calling breast-feeding “smart and sexy” in a press release on behalf of the Alaska state House majority, according to the Huffington Post.
The release — titled “Smart and Sexy: Legislature Encourages Hospitals to Promote Breastfeeding” — was sent out earlier this week and celebrated the passage of a bill that highglighted the benefits of breast-feeding and urged health centers to practice a breast-feeding program. The “Smart and Sexy” portion has since been taken off the web version of the release.
On Tuesday, Alaska state Rep. Shelley Hughes, a Republican, apologized for the wording, according to HuffPost.
“My intent was to draw attention to this incredibly important issue. Unfortunately, this is not the kind of attention I hoped to receive. I take full responsibility for the headline. I apologize for the poor choice of words, and am sorry if I offended anyone,” she said in a statement.
Breast-feeding has become a particularly political issue in recent years, as women have been pushed not to breast-feed in public. Still, others are encouraged by hospitals to breast-feed. In New York City, a city-wide program that 27 of the city’s 40 hospitals have signed onto encourages mothers to breastfeed, by requiring them to specifically ask for formula if they need it, tracking the use of formula like a medication, and keeping formula-promoting promos out of the hospital.
Jane Timm