*splutters*

[ikyrian]

A person on my friend's list posted this article, which says "New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon." From the very first menstrual period all the way until menopause, all women should be treated by their health care provider as "pre-pregnant."

I'm not planning on having children, ever. And while "about half" of all pregnancies are unplanned, this does not mean that we should make it so our bodies are best able to handle pregnancy. While some of the recommendations are sound (don't smoke, don't drink much, etc.), taking folic acid supplements for the sole reason of being able to properly support a fetus is crazy.

Please excuse me while I go splutter in incoherent rage for awhile.

Comments

[esthompson.livejournal.com]

Well, I think it's a good idea for all women to treat themselves as pre-pregnant. The primary effect of the policy would be to improve the health of the woman, not the fetus. Let's face it: most of us probably don't get enough folic acid for ourselves, much less a baby. As long as the feds don't break into my house to make sure I'm eating oranges and taking my vitamins, I'm okay with the policy.

When I was growing up, I knew a woman who had a lovely New Year's out with her husband. Shortly after, she found out she was pregnant with her son. Her son has severe learning disabilities and will probably never live outside his parents' home. She will always wonder if the alcohol she consumed about the time of conception affected his development. Let this be a warning!

Of course, studies show that sperm can be affected by toxic substances in much the same way as eggs. For this reason, I think all men should treat themselves as if they were going to be fathers. In that respect, perhaps, the government is not treating men and women fairly.

[ikyrian.livejournal.com]

So...what? I should never go out to a party and drink with a boyfriend just because it might give a child FAS? While couples should always be careful to use birth control, it's ridiculous to try to control what women do with their bodies on the possiblity of something that might happen. It's like creating a law that everyone should carry umbrellas just becuase it might rain. It's pointless, not to mention degrading. I am not a baby making machine, here on Earth to pump out babies every nine months. I'm not arguing that American women don't need more folic acid in our systems, we probably do, it's the way that this is presented that really makes me want to scream.

[flolikewhoa.livejournal.com]

I hate that because it makes it seem like the sole point of women is to bear children. So law forbid a woman has a few (or more than a few!) cocktails or cigarettes a couple nights a week, 'cause dear LORD, maintaining the utmost in PRE-PREGNANT perfection trumps having fun with girlfriends, doing crazy shit and actually enjoying life.

"Healthier women have healthier pregnancies." NO SHIT.

I don't plan on having kids. And this really pisses me off. If I want to wreck my body, I have every right to do so. I'm all for taking vitamins, exercising, and trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but to each her own.

Also, plenty of people have been born and existed perfectly healthily before a "policy" like this ever came into place. It's just stupid and yet another way for women to be marginalized.

[esthompson.livejournal.com]

Maybe we women should prioritize our efforts on things like preventing the rollback of Roe v. Wade, or forcing our insurance companies to cover birth control (in the state of Virginia, health insurance companies are legally barred from covering birth control, unless it is prescribed for an unrelated reason, like severe menstrual cramps). Of course, Viagra is covered. If the government wants to tell women to take folic acid, well, how different is that from a condom campaign or an anti-drug public service announcement? I'm with you on feminism, but I think there are more important things to worry about.

"Three feet of ice does not result from one day of cold weather" -Mandarin Proverb

[ikyrian.livejournal.com]

While you could say that "there are more important things to worry about" and not be wrong, it's letting little stuff like this slide that makes it that much harder to work on those "more important things."

What I most hate about these guidelines is the image that it produces: that women should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen 24/7/365. And if not pregnant, ready to be pregnant. Nothing in the policy is actually bad for women, in fact, most of it would be be healthful. It's the way the federal government presents this "policy" and what they are implying when they say all "women" roughtly between the ages of 11-65-ish are "pre-pregnant" just because they menstruate every month!

I am all for promoting better health care in this country especially in terms of women, but this is ridiculous! The very fact that they framed it in this way tells me that these people were not thinking of female human beings so much as they were thinking of "baby machines." You think having health care providers looking at all women as "pre-pregnant" is going to make it easier to change that Viriginian law? Hell no! It just compounds within their minds that women do not need to have birth control covered because they are "pre-pregnant" 100% of the time.

[ikyrian.livejournal.com]

Also, plenty of people have been born and existed perfectly healthily before a "policy" like this ever came into place.

That's the same exact thing my mom said. And I totally agree. It's just one more way that the government is trying to control what women do with their own bodies. Like how many people keep on trying to prevent birth control or abortions.

[esthompson.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I honestly didn't like the pre-pregnant thing either, I was just playing devil's advocate. Pre-pregnant rings the same alarm bells that go off when my period is late, which, incidentally, I worried about even when I was twelve.

If I went to the doctor one day, and she said, "It appears that you do not have ovaries", I would do the little dance of joy.

Like you, I am not interested in ever having children. I'm reading a book now called "The Empty Cradle". The opportunity cost for a woman to have one middle-class child in America is over one million dollars, most of it in lost wages. Isn't that insane? Most women don't have one child, either: they have two or three. I'd rather retire ten years early than push out something the size and weight of a bowling ball.

Did you know they can tell if really old skeletons gave birth because the scarring is still visible on the pelvis? *shudders*

I like little children. I babysat for many years. Three-year-olds are some of the most fascinating people you will ever meet. I want to be an aunt, just not a mom.

[laureate05.livejournal.com]

This is really scary for several reasons. First and foremost, it directly interfers with my doctor's duties to me. My doctor should only care about me and my health and nothing else. That is why I pay her, and it is repulsive for the government to try to enforce any other paradigm on us. Second, it's a major win for the anit-abortion crowd. It makes some one (any potential child) other than the primary patient a priority. Sick and wrong. Third, I can see this easily spinning out into dire circumstances. A "pre-pregnant" woman can be denied all sorts of live-saving medical procedures, such as x-rays and prescriptions (including birth control and antibiotics like the one that just cured a kidney infection I had that was not cure by another broadspectrum anitbiotic). I don't like this. It's dangerous, stupid, and political.

[esthompson.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Very good. I like the way you think. I didn't even think about women being denied important medical care because they *might* be pregnant. I hate to think what would happen if I were in a car accident, and the doctor didn't know my status, and treated me as pregnant anyway. Hmm...