There are mothers who are literally unable to breastfeed, just like there are people who are literally unable to walk (e.g. bound to a wheelchair.)
In a discussion about a family member trying to steal a wheelchair for a person with a disability, if you post a comment saying "walking is free hurr durr," then you would get the same reaction from other commenters.
I'm not missing the point, I don't know how is it where you live, but in many places there are human milk banks for people with real problem on breastfeeding
Its really funny youre just pro breast milk not anti stealing, but hey still a lot of people arent given the time to breastfeed and its taxing on the body, so ideally give everyone all options freely.
doesn't work for some mothers, through no fault of their own. not to disagree with the sentiment, just to remind that it's not an option for everyone :)
the mother have to continue to work to survive so she does not have time to breastfeed
the workplace does not allow the mother to pump while at work
the mother is too stressed or can't feed herself properly which leads to her milk supply drying out
the nurse at the maternity just start giving a bottle to the crying baby rather than taking the time with the mother to initiate the milk production. Which leads to the milk supply to never really start properly
.....
Breastfeeding is possible if and only if the mother is well taken care of, by her family and by the society.
The main benefit of formula is that now the society can continue to exploit women even directly after birth and the baby will still survive.
Someone stealing formula is not someone who is too lazy to breastfeed, someone stealing formula is someone who has to struggle to survive rather than spending time bonding with her child.