Montana Supreme Court sets rules for breastfeeding accommodation during state bar exam
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Mothers who breastfeed and are taking the Montana State Bar Exam later this month will be allowed to have 15-minute breaks every three hours during test taking, the Associated Press reports.
In February, a test-taker there was denied an accommodation request to breastfeed her child because the request came in too late, a Montana Supreme Court order (PDF) states. The court issued the interim rule July 6, according to the state bar association, and it adopts recommendations (PDF) from the Montana Board of Bar Examiners. The Uniform Bar Examination portion of the test is scheduled for July 25 and July 26, and the Montana Law Seminar portion will take place July 27.
Besides 15-minute breaks, the interim rule requires that a private or semi-private room with an electrical outlet, if requested, is provided, and test-takers have permission to bring and store a breast pump, storage supplies and a cooler at the exam site.
The accommodation is only available to individuals breastfeeding a child who is under 12 months old and requests should include the child’s date of birth. The court is taking public comment on the interim rule through Sept. 5, and will later decide whether it should be made permanent.
For the most part, state bar admissions boards look to internal policy when determining breastfeeding accommodations, says Erica Moeser, president and chief executive officer of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. She wasn’t aware of other states having supreme court rules for the accommodations.
In 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union and Law Students for Reproductive Justice surveyed states regarding breastfeeding accommodations during bar exams, and found that many requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. And one state—Alabama—did not provide breastfeeding test-takers additional break time, or allow them to bring pumping equipment to the test site, according to the survey.
When the survey was conducted, 18 states claimed that they allowed test-takers to bring breastfeeding equipment and supplies to test sites, as well as access to private locations. Twelve states asserted that test-takers who breastfeed could receive additional break time.
