A viral post claiming that Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett said that breastfeeding amounts to child molestation is found to be fake. The hoax claim, which originated in October, is doing the rounds on various social media outlets including Facebook and Twitter.
Following the death of Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US President Donald Trump announced Barrett as his preferred choice for the supreme court. The announcement was done during an event held at the Rose Garden in the White House.
What Are the Claims Being Made Against Barrett ?
The fake claim originated in October in a Facebook post. The quote being attributed to Barrett suggests that making a child breastfeed is an act of child molestation. "Not because feeding your child is rape, but because there are otherwise ways to feed your child, even with breast milk. It's called a bottle, and yes I do have children. I have a six month old that is fed breast milk from a bottle, not directly from the breast. If you force your child to suck your nipples, you are molesting YOUR child. Making an infant suck on your breasts is a sexual act and you should be in prison for CHILD MOLESTATION," reads the entire viral quote.
Sharing the quote, a FB user wrote: "This is from the mouth of the woman they are wanting as a Supreme Court justice...just from this alone should make her unfit for any position of any position in judgment of humans...something is terribly wrong with her ..I would fear any child to be within her realm ..breast feeding as any mother knows is a normal and natural process of all beings. Studies have been done concluding in a mother whom breast feeds her child forms a unique bond between between mother and child. How as a normal mother condemn such and act and label it as a filthy act between mother and child," read the post further.
Did Barrett Really Compare Breastfeeding to Child Abuse?
Stating that the claim being made is fake, Snopes reported that Barrett never issued any such statement anywhere. It seems that the quote was made by a Facebook user, Jesus Martinez, while criticizing the act of breastfeeding.
Later, the screenshot of the comment was shared on the Reddit thread r/insaneparents on October 4. Multiple posts have been made since then of the comment with several of them striking out the name of the person who wrote it.
Even though the claim was fake, it certainly garnered a lot of attention on the social media. "WTF?!? Breastfeeding is now a form of child MOLESTATION??? So, does that also mean that dog & cat moms are molesting their puppies & kittens??? What planet are these whackadoo people from?!?" tweeted a user.
"This picture says so much more about you than anything. You get turned on by a kid eating a hot dog? You think someone kissing a baby is a pedophile? Are you one of those weirdos that thinks breastfeeding is child molestation?" wrote another.
