Thanks, m in Israel! I agree with everything you said.
“Additionally, a mother who is nursing exclusively or mainly cannot simply skip a few feeding without physical consequences — and I assume you would be just as uncomfortable with a woman expressing milk as with her nursing!”
I wasn’t going to bring this up, but since you did….
I once had to fly a few years ago without my nursing baby. I had pumped for him and left him bottles of breastmilk at home, but I was very uncomfortable during the flight and had no choice but to pump on the plane. BH I had a very small, very quiet electric pump and I did it right there in my seat under a blanket. The woman sitting next to me knew because she saw me pull out a bottle of milk when I was done, but otherwise it was entirely discreet and unnoticeable.
(I wasn’t trying to make any point by sharing that other than saying that you do what you have to do when you’re on the plane, whether it’s nursing or pumping.)