Paying for Breast Feeding

 In the commentary by Rebecca Walker titled The Root: Let the Nanny State Pay for Breast Pumps, she argues for the ability of the government to reclassify of breast pumps as a deductible medical expense. I appreciate the author's fervor in trying to get the public on her side. As any mother knows breast feeding is what babies were meant to do and has been shown to improve many things from health to intelligence, not to mention the mother baby bonding that occurs. In her argument Rebecca Walker is arguing against what many have termed "The Nanny State", by which they mean the federal government making breast pumps a deductible medical expense. As she sees it the opposition is concerned about "big government" and suggests exaggeratedly, much like Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, that if that is the case then let's remove the public schools, and police stations etc. I don't agree with her comparison on the South being those who profit from the restriction of the rights and dignity of others while the North is compared to the federal government. It just seems like a vicious comment in a time where everyone is polarized enough. To support her cause she argues that the provision has virtually no cost to the state, however provides no links to any sites that claim that. All in all I agree with her that they should be a deductible expense, my reason for it being that the benefits to be gained from it are huge and having a baby is expensive so it makes it hard to pay for things like breast pumps. Breast pumps aren't as necessary as diapers for instance so I understand why low income families wouldn't invest in one. It seems to me though that her argument is mostly vitriol and not enough facts.