By Galen Sherwin, Staff Attorney ACLU Women’s Rights Project
Women should not be forced to choose between breastfeeding their babies and pursuing a legal education — right?
Wrong — at least according to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), the organization that administers the LSAT.
This summer, our sister organization, MomsRising, contacted us about one of their members, Ashley (she prefers that we use only her first name), a new mom who was planning to take the LSAT in October. Ashley had asked for additional break time so that she could pump breast milk for her 5 month old son during the test. (It typically takes half an hour to pump, but the LSAT only has one 15 minute break during the test). Her request was denied — when she initially called to request this accommodation, she was told she would either have to take the test under standard procedure, wean her baby in time for the October 1 test date, or opt to take the test at a later time when she was no longer breastfeeding. Seriously.
