As horrible as airplane travel is for most people, that goes quadruple for mothers of young children. Actress Alyssa Milano learned this when the breastmilk she’d just pumped for her child was confiscated by Heathrow airport security.
So if the sorry state of security theater in the United States makes you weep for humanity, you can take comfort that airport security theatre is as much of a joke in the United Kingdom.
(1 of 2) @HeathrowAirport just took my pumped breast milk away. 10 ounces. Gone. Not okay.
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 9, 2015
(2 of 2) They said they would let the pumped milk through if I had the baby with me. Why would I need to pump if I had the baby with me????
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 9, 2015
Indeed, that seems to be the incomprehensible defense offered by the geniuses at airport security. Check it out:
@Alyssa_Milano Hi Alyssa. Unfortunately, without a baby present, the government requires all liquids in carry-ons to follow the 100ml rule.
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) April 9, 2015
I don’t know how anyone can be so stupid, but the whole pumping thing suggests that the baby may very well not be present. Imagine that you’re a working mother on a business trip. You’ve stored up breast milk to feed the baby at home for the duration of your trip but need to keep your pumping routine up to make sure your production doesn’t lag and to make sure your baby has enough milk when you return and head to the office or what not. Maybe you’re exclusively pumping and not able to otherwise nurse. You pump and carry it with you. The baby will likely not be present for the whole enterprise.
Puzzle it out, bureaucratic princesses.
.@HeathrowAirport Why can you test my toiletries to make sure they are safe but you have to throw away my breast milk?
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 9, 2015
There is perhaps no better way of understanding how harmful and unhelpful airport security is than to realize it confiscates mother’s milk, has the worst possible reasoning to justify said confiscation, and can’t think of any way to achieve its goals otherwise.
