The Internet Responds to the CDC's Condescending Drinking Guidelines for Women

Source: http://greatist.com/live/cdc-drinking-guidelines-women?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

The CDC released new guidelines that recommend sexually active women who aren’t on birth control avoid drinking… altogether. Because, you know, you can never be too cautious when there’s a slight chance you’ll get pregnant and an even slighter chance your child would be harmed by that drink you had at happy hour. Thankfully, the Internet is (at times) an amazing place and many people responded with outrage on social media (see our faves below).

A quick primer on the new guidelines: About half of pregnancies are unplanned, and we know drinking during pregnancy is dangerous, so the CDC says women who could get pregnant should go cold turkey. But these recommendations make it seem like, at least in the CDC’s eyes, women’s sole purpose is to carry babies. Plus, they make no mention of male contraception and completely forget women having sex with women, who won’t get pregnant—at least not without some extra planning.

It’s true that most women don’t know they’re pregnant at the moment of conception, but Hal Lawrence, M.D., the CEO of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told NPR it’s not usually an issue if women have some alcohol before realizing they’re pregnant. So there’s no need to cancel those after-work drinks.

What do you think?

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