Mom Danielle Gendron Outraged After Being Kicked Out Of Courtroom For Breastfeeding

A new mom in Connecticut spoke out this week after an official made her leave a local courtroom for attempting to breastfeed her young son.

Danielle Gendron told local station WTNH that she was shocked when a Norwich, Conn., family court marshal waved her out after she began feeding her 3-month-old son, Maddox.

"I went to feed him and the marshal, just you know she immediately just waved me out," Gendron told WTNH. "That's never happened to me so I wasn't sure she was speaking to me at first so I kind of looked around and she was like you know get out."

Gendron had been in the courtroom to testify, but she didn't get her chance to take the stand.

Gendron's right to breastfeed Maddox is protected under state law. Connecticut is one of 45 states and the District of Columbia that have passed statutes allowing women to breastfeed in any public or private location, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Yet, Gendron's experience is not the first story of a breastfeeding mother running into trouble in a courtroom setting.

Earlier this year, Laura Trickle brought her 7-month-old son with her to jury duty in Missouri, a state that does not yet exempt breastfeeding moms from court duties. When she got there, the judge in the case told her that she either had to pump breast milk and feed it to her son in a bottle, or find a babysitter. After Trickle claimed neither of those options were feasible, she was threatened with a possible contempt of court charge.

In 2011, Michigan mother Natalie Hegedus claimed a local judge humiliated her in front of an entire courtroom for feeding her 5-month-old. Hegedus was so upset by the incident that she mounted a campaign to get Van Buren County District Judge Robert T. Hentchel officially reprimanded.

And these cases are hardly unique...