I was sad to see the recent CDC recommendations regarding preconception care for all fertile women ["Forever Pregnant," May 16] and take it as further evidence of the politicization of our nation's once-vaunted professional services.
If our public health services are interested in improving pregnancy outcomes, they need to advocate three things: universal health care for all Americans, improved education about and availability of birth control, and the licensing of the morning-after pill as an over-the-counter drug, as the experts at the FDA have recommended.
Sorry, but I'm not about to recommend to all fertile women in my practice that they stop drinking alcohol -- when there is no evidence that moderate use is harmful to them -- so that they can stand ready to be impregnated at any time. It is one thing to encourage women to forgo their own desires for the needs of their babies when pregnant; it is quite another to demand that harmless activities be given up for the totality of their reproductive lives, as this report suggests, so they may be better ready to serve the fatherland as breeders.
Robert A. Schweizer, MD
Media, Pa.
I'll drink to that.
Sadly, the Doctor had no comment on Samuel L. Jackson's upcoming performance.
"The article made me feel as if I should be at my home, barefoot and in the kitchen, and doing nothing but preparing for the glorious time when I will be pregnant. . . ."
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