The Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would require all bathrooms in public buildings to be equipped with baby-changing tables.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quickly asked for unanimous consent to pass the bill, and no one objected.
Senate passage came about a week after the House passed the bill in a 389-34 vote. Passage by the Senate sends the bill to Obama for his signature into law.
The bill, from Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., originally appeared to be intended to require baby-changing tables in mens’ bathrooms, as well as women’s bathrooms.
In its final form, however, the Bathrooms Accessible in Every Situation Act, or the BABIES Act, would limit it to bathrooms in buildings controlled by the federal government.
Under the new version, all bathrooms would have to have baby-changing stations, but exemptions would be allowed if another room on the same floor has an accessible place for parents to change their kids’ diapers.
The bill defines “baby-changing facility” as “a table or other device suitable for changing the diaper of a child age three or under.”
