Sponsors (2)
The bill expands and standardizes accessible lactation facilities at VA medical centers—improving care and accommodation for nursing veterans—while imposing implementation costs and some access and timing limitations that could strain resources or lead to rushed deployments.
Women veterans visiting VA medical centers will gain private, hygienic lactation spaces, making it easier to breastfeed or express milk while receiving care or visiting facilities.
Nursing parents with disabilities will have accessible (wheelchair-accessible, clearly signed) lactation rooms, improving accommodation and compliance with accessibility norms.
Phased compliance deadlines (80% in two years, 100% in three) give VA medical centers a predictable timeline for implementing lactation rooms, helping drive implementation and accountability.
Installing or retrofitting lactation spaces across VA medical centers will incur construction and equipment costs that could divert VA resources or require additional funding from taxpayers.
Strict compliance deadlines may pressure VA administrators to rush installations, risking inconsistent room quality or suboptimal placement to meet timelines.
Because the law does not authorize public entry to restricted areas, some veterans or visitors with limited access permissions may still lack convenient access to lactation rooms.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires every VA medical center to provide a private, non-bathroom lactation space and sets 2- and 3-year compliance targets with annual reporting to veterans’ committees.
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide a dedicated, hygienic, non-bathroom lactation space at every VA medical center that is accessible, private, signed, and equipped with a chair and working surface. The VA must reach at least 80% of centers with such spaces within two years and 100% within three years, and must report to congressional veterans’ committees within one year and annually until all centers comply. Also preserves existing access control rules (does not authorize unauthorized entry) and adds a statutory citation for the new requirement and a clerical table entry.
Official title: Amend title 38, United States Code, to require a lactation space in each medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen · Last progress November 12, 2025