oh, that krazy government

I heard on the news this morning that there’s a new government advertising campaign saying that breastfeeding is not only natural, but that not doing it could actually harm your baby. Um, okay. So when did this become a government issue? They don’t offer national paid maternity leave or nationally funded childcare, but they think it’s okay to scare women into breastfeeding their babies? Where’s the sense in that? Shouldn’t the US government focus its money and energy on solving other issues first, like, say...oh, I don’t know...ending the war in Iraq? Eradicating poverty, hunger, and homelessness? Making college affordable for everyone? Finding fuel alternatives? Continuing the fight against AIDS? Making sure every citizen has freaking healthcare coverage? (The fact that so many people in this country have to live without medical treatment because of a lack of insurance is positively shameful.) All of those things—war, poverty, hunger, homelessness, dying fuel sources, AIDS, a paucity of suitable healthcare—affect babies and children to one degree or another. So if the government is that concerned about the health and wellbeing of babies, why aren’t they directing some of those pro-breastfeeding advertising dollars toward issues like healthier school lunches, top-notch healthcare for all children, and affordable childcare?

Breastfeeding is a personal choice, and women who opt to forgo it shouldn’t be vilified or bullied into changing their minds. Although I know babies who were breastfed and turned out fabulously, I also know babies who weren’t breastfed and turned out fabulously (including many people who harken from eras before current advanced nutritional formulas existed). No mother who chooses to forgo breastfeeding should be criticized for her choice. No, I don’t have kids, and I don’t know if I’m ever going to have them, but as a woman, I know I wouldn’t want the government guilt-tripping me if I did have kids and chose not to breastfeed them. Plus I’m at an age where more and more of my friends, colleagues, and relatives are starting to have babies, and I would hate to see any of them getting browbeaten into breastfeeding by bureaucrats!



song heard most recently before posting: Wrong Man—Amanda Ghost