Marian Tompson, one of the founders of La Leche League International, an organization created to support breastfeeding mothers, has resigned because the organization is no longer focused on supporting mothers and babies.

“From an organisation with the specific mission of supporting biological women who want to give their babies the best start in life by breastfeeding them, LLL’s focus has subtly shifted to include men who, for whatever reason, want to have the experience of breastfeeding, despite no careful long-term research on male lactation and how that may affect the baby,” the 94-year-old wrote in her resignation letter. “This shift from following the norms of nature, which is the core of mothering through breastfeeding, to indulging the fantasies of adults, is destroying our organisation.”

Indeed, the homepage of the organization explicitly includes helping transgender people who are “chestfeeding” as part of the support it provides.

Good for Tompson for standing up for mothers and babies. La Leche League was formed to teach women how to breastfeed and promote the benefits of breastfeeding for babies.

It was not until my friends started having children and I had my first child that I truly understood that breastfeeding doesn’t automatically work for everyone. It is very challenging for some women. Organizations such as La Leche League have helped women figure out how to breastfeed and encouraged more breastfeeding culturally. This is good for mothers and babies.

No matter how easily breastfeeding comes, it is a big time commitment. I have breastfed for years and so enjoyed those moments with my children. But as mothers of newborns can attest, breastfeeding often feels like it takes all day in those early days.

When I had my most recent baby, my older children all talked about how the baby gets “mommy’s milk.” There is something special about the milk provided by a mother and the bond formed through breastfeeding. I have nursed on a train, on a plane, in a car, at a baseball game, and, most recently, at the top of the Washington Monument.

Women’s sports isn’t the only place where “inclusive” policies end up hurting women. The founders of La Leche League created an organization to benefit mothers and babies. In the name of inclusivity, La Leche League has strayed from its purpose. When organizations such as La Leche League lose sight of their purpose, mothers and babies are the losers. 

Karin Lips (@klips) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is the founder and president of the Network of Enlightened Women and a senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum.

This article was published by the Washington Examiner.