In November of last year, a 28-year-old mother from Toad Suck, Arkansas was arrested and charged for endangering the welfare of a minor after she decided to breastfeed her child while drinking alcohol at a restaurant.
The stay-at-home mom, whose name is Tasha Adams, appeared in ABC’s primetime news program 20/20 in her first televised interview, in which she admitted having consumed alcohol while breastfeeding her then 6-month-old baby daughter Ana. However, she claimed that she was not aware that the act was illegal and that she “wouldn’t have done it” had she known it was against the law.
Adams had attended a funeral with her parents and three young children and decided to have dinner at Gusano’s Pizzeria, which is located in Conway, Arkansas. The family ordered pizza with spinach dip, which Adams claimed she had with a couple of beers.
Adams says she didn’t know drinking while breastfeeding was illegal
However, the details of the incident were slightly different according to Gusano’s waitress Jackie Connors, who also gave an interview on 20/20. Connors, who was off-duty at the time, claimed she saw “two or three drinks” in front of Adams when she arrived at the restaurant for an after-hours staff meeting. While Adams was not in the act of drinking when Connors saw her, the waitress said that she saw the bartender fix up what “looked like Long Islands”, which were served to Adams’ table.
Connors decided to notify the police about Adams’ actions when Gusano’s management refused to reprimand the breastfeeding mother. When the officers arrived at the restaurant, they spoke to Adams about Connors’ report after which Adams said she was not aware that drinking while breastfeeding was illegal. State law does not state anything about the supposed offense, but the police officers decided to arrest Adams for endangering the welfare of a child.
The waitress called the police
Conway deputy city attorney Chuck Clawson dropped the child endangerment charges against Adams last week. Clawson claimed that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove that she had indeed been too intoxicated to care for her child.
Adams said on 20/20 that she hoped the police officers had made her undergo a Breathalyzer test at the restaurant before making the decision to arrest her.
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