WATCH – WHO RUNS WHO? –
June 21, 2021 – Though the WHO responded to the outcry by stressing that it “does not recommend abstinence of all women who are of an age at which they could become pregnant,” it continued by saying that “it does seek to raise awareness of the serious consequences that can result from drinking alcohol while pregnant, even when the pregnancy is not yet known.” Yet men who drink can damage fetuses — known or unknown — as well, but they aren’t mentioned in the WHO guidance. Unintentional though it might be, the implied message is that parenthood is a woman’s inevitable purpose rather than a life choice; that our needs come second to the needs of a baby yet to be born and a family we may or may not want to create; and that women are still not afforded the same bodily autonomy as the men who can impregnate us.
An April study of over 520,000 couples found a 35 percent increase in the risk of birth defects when a father drank alcohol regularly up to six months prior to conception. As the researchers wrote in JAMA, “Our finding suggests that future fathers should be encouraged to modify their alcohol intake before conceiving to reduce fetal risk,” noting how it “substantially elevated the risk of birth defects.”
