Nursing parents flying through Newark Liberty International Airport now have a legal guarantee of a lactation room past the security checkpoint. Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a measure this week requiring lactation rooms at certain Port Authority airports, with Newark Liberty squarely covered under the new rules.
Under the law, as reported by NJ.com, any Port Authority airport with at least 1 million annual enplanements must provide a lactation room located past the security checkpoint. Newark Liberty International, described in the outlet's reporting as the Port Authority's main New Jersey gateway, is well past that mark, meaning the airport falls under the strictest tier of the new requirement.
Smaller airports aren't exempt either. Facilities with more than 10,000 but fewer than 1 million annual enplanements must add a lactation room once they build a new terminal or replace, expand, or renovate an existing one, according to the same NJ.com report.
What The Law Actually Requires Inside The Room
The statute spells out specific features rather than leaving them to each airport's discretion. A qualifying lactation room must include a chair, an electrical outlet, and a location kept separate from public restrooms, the report states. Where new terminal construction or a renovation is involved, a sink is also required.
Newark Liberty already advertises lactation rooms and pods among its amenities, according to the airport's own services page, which also lists a quieter area for meditating, prayer, or breastfeeding.
Not every airport near New Jersey travelers is covered. The report notes that airports run by other agencies, including Atlantic City International and Trenton-Mercer, are not subject to the new requirement because the law applies specifically to Port Authority facilities.
A Unanimous Vote After An Earlier Version Failed To Advance
The bill, identified as A-5071/S-4466, had a long road to the governor's desk. A version was first introduced during the 2018-2019 legislative session before being reintroduced in 2024, the NJ.com account states. The latest Assembly bill was introduced in May, with the Senate version following in June.
When it finally came to a vote, lawmakers backed it unanimously: the bill passed the Assembly 75-0 and the Senate 39-0. It was sponsored in the Assembly by Carol Murphy and Tennille McCoy, and in the Senate by Angela McKnight and Britnee Timberlake, per the same account.
Murphy, who serves as Assembly Majority Whip, said the measure ensures mothers have “privacy, comfort and dignity.” She added that “no mother should have to struggle to find a safe, comfortable place to nurse or pump while traveling.”
New Jersey Follows New York's Lead
New Jersey isn't the first state in the region to pass this kind of mandate. New York passed its own version of the law in 2022, and under that statute, qualifying airports must provide a space that includes, at minimum, a chair and an electrical outlet, is located outside the confines of a public restroom, and includes a sink once new terminal construction or renovation work is finished, according to the codified text at newyork.public.law.
The Port Authority had already been expanding nursing accommodations across its network before either law passed. The agency opened 28 upgraded nursing suites across Newark Liberty, JFK, LaGuardia, and New York Stewart airports, according to NBC New York, which reported the suites were distributed as 12 at JFK, nine at Newark Liberty, six at LaGuardia, and one at Stewart. Those upgraded pods sit past security in each terminal and feature benches, a fold-down table, an electrical outlet, and a lockable door, the station reported.
Those suites built on an earlier generation of freestanding nursing stations that NBC New York says were first introduced in 2015 at LaGuardia and Newark Liberty. The Port Authority operates five airports in total, two in New Jersey and three in New York, spanning Newark Liberty and Teterboro on the New Jersey side and JFK, LaGuardia, and Stewart in New York.
