Peta Credlin: Political correctness invades bastion of mum commonsense

The Australian Breastfeeding Association should be focused on the health of babies but they have taken political correctness to a whole new level, writes Peta Credlin.

You would think that the Australian Breastfeeding Association would be entirely focused on trying to ensure that more new mothers choose to breastfeed their babies (because “breast is best” they tell us) and help make it happen.

Apparently not, in this world of political correctness gone mad.

Last week on Sky News, I interviewed Jasmine Sussex, a volunteer breast-feeding counsellor whom the Breastfeeding Association has just forced out for “hate speech” and alleged bullying.

Her offence: social media posts that referenced “mothers” and “breastfeeding”, as opposed to the association’s preference for “lactating parents” and “chest-feeding” after it partnered with “Rainbow Families” to promote the use of gender-neutral language.

It seems that the Breastfeeding Association, once a bastion of common sense and practical help, has been hijacked by activists more concerned about the confected outrage of the trans lobby than the wellbeing of new mums and bubs.

Jasmine Sussex. Pics: Supplied

The association is now insisting on gender-neutral terminology on the grounds that there could be a minuscule number of trans-men or trans-women attempting to breastfeed, despite surgery or hormone treatment, who might feel “excluded”.

The association claims that it’s possible for biological men to produce milk through a process of “induced lactation”. Sussex says that hormonally induced male nipple secretions are “not mother’s milk” and won’t back away from the words “mother” and “breast”.

Because of this, Sussex was first counselled then forced out. Now, she’s subject to a move to expel her from the association altogether.

Even though she says that she’s “happy to support how people identify” but “sex matters when it comes to birthing and breastfeeding”.

What has our society come to when ideological fervour trumps the biological reality of 99.9 per cent of the population? As Sussex told me, “in the name of inclusion, we’re practising exclusion”.

And don’t think that this is a rare aberration, arising from the activist takeover of just one small group. A country where feelings trump facts is in deep trouble regardless of next weekend’s election result.

WATCH PETA ON CREDLIN ON SKY NEWS, WEEKNIGHTS AT 6PM