A Spanish Politician Breastfed In Parliament — & People Could NOT Handle It

One very fresh face was present as Spain's parliament reconvened for the first time this year: a 5-month-old baby. Carolina Bescansa, an MP with the left-leaning Podemos party, brought young son Diego into the chamber and reportedly breast-fed him as lawmakers returned to work nearly a month after contentious elections. Bescansa told reporters that she believes all mothers should be able to parent "as they are able and willing," Spanish media reported. “If a mother has to care for her child, she has to care for him wherever,” Bescansa said, according to The Guardian. “It’s time that this chamber started to resemble the rest of the country.” But critics panned the move saying Bescansa, who at the time was running as a candidate for speaker (she has been defeated), was exploiting her child for political purposes. The Guardian quoted Jorge Fernández Díaz, the acting interior minister, as saying it's “lamentable that a child should be used for political motives.” One female politician pointed out that there's a nursery in the building, where new mothers can visit their babies and nurse. A feminist group called Red Feminista even chimed in, tweeting that Bescansa was using “maternity as a display element,” Newsweek noted. Still, at least one fellow politician and mother threw her support behind Bescansa. Licia Ronzulli, a former Italian lawmaker who has brought her daughter to sessions, retweeted several posts praising both Bescansa and Ronzulli for setting an example for mothers everywhere.