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The setting: A buzzing coffee shop inside a metropolitan Barnes & Noble.

Sittin, sipping, and reading I happen to notice a pretty young woman at an adjacent table. She's absolutely glowing and has such a serene look on her face. A Paul Harvey moment later, I see the rest of the story. Beneath a colorful shawl, a baby nestles in her arms. He has quietly achieved soft dock and tethered to the mothership suckles away. I make eye contact with the woman and we smile at each other. Before I return to my magazine, I enjoy watching the strengthening of a bond that will hopefully last a lifetime.

For too long and for too many women, breastfeeding in public has come with a price. Scowling strangers and scolding storekeepers who sometimes ask the mother to leave have stigmatized an activity as natural as sex itself. Washington state has now made this aspect of mother's rights a priority. A 2001 statute stated that breastfeeding or expressing milk is not indecent exposure. This legislative session, Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law the bill which prohibits store owners from asking breastfeeding mothers to leave. Washington, welcome to the growing list of states willing to protect this right. Summaries of your state's breastfeeding laws can be found at the National Conference of State Legislatures website.