Do you think drinking alcohol while pregnant should be illegal?

[Anonymous]

Would you hold a grudge for your mother if you were born with fetal alcohol syndrome?

I think I definitely would.

[Screenwriter]

Fetal alcohol syndrome occurs when a woman drinks large quantities of alcohol while pregnant, and the damage done to the child means that child won't be able to recognize what happened to it. So the child won't be complaining, as you think you might.

Every Friday evening I had 4 ounces of wine with my dinner while pregnant with my now nearly 30 year old son. I measured it out with a shot glass. You can't develop fetal alcohol syndrome from moderation. This only occurs with women who are alcoholics or binge drinkers.

And if a woman IS an alcoholic, she might've been binge drinking for months before she even KNEW she was pregnant. And if she is an alcoholic, even after finding out about her pregnancy, it is highly unlikely she can stop without wanting to and intervention.

If drinking alcohol should be illegal during pregnancy, then so should smoking and driving a car and sitting in a hot tub: all of these put a fetus at risk for birth defects, low birth weight and even death. The percentage risk is highly variable. It's according to how much someone drinks, smokes, drives dangerously, how long they sit in a hot tub...

You cannot legislate this because it is not determinable who is doing what during their pregnancy. You can certainly refuse to serve a pregnant woman alcohol if you're a bartender. But I am not the ethics police.

It is far more important to get drunk drivers off the roads and into help programs, and if identified early on intervene with a pregnant woman who is an alcoholic through help programs. Only 5% of children are affected by fetal alcohol syndrome disorder. However, 30% of automobile accidents involve drunk driviers. Put your worry where it's more pertinent.

[Kelly6]

It should be.

[BriamG22]

Oh yeah, it definitely should be illegal, but then how do we enforce it? Haha, I don't think we should be locking up pregnant women. Maybe have them serve their sentence after childbirth? But what if she continues drinking during the pregnancy? 🤣🤣

With regards to holding a grudge, I personally don't think I would, but then again my perspective is skewed because I have a wonderful mother. However; if I think a bit deeper, she would not have been doing it out of malice or hatred (that being the assumption I'm making), so it was more that she was struggling with addiction right? I guess I would be really disappointed and would have a huge loss of respect for her but probably not a grudge.

[WindAtMyBack]

Yes, I think it should be illegal. It's hard to know about though. But if the kid is born with FAS, that mother should have the book thrown at her.

Same with parents who let their kids get fat. It's terrible to see young children who are morbidly over weight.

[OneViewpoint]

It's like saying you want to outlaw being an asshole. Yes, pregnant women shouldn't be getting drunk. But how do you enforce that law? If you only enforce it retroactively based on a child being borne with fetal alcohol syndrome, what benefit is that to the child? The hard cold reality is that we can't legislate assholes out of existence.

[Iron_Man]

They’ll never know if you’re sitting in your house at 2 o’clock in the morning drinking but you shouldn’t drink at all or smoke once you’re pregnant

[DrPepper12]

Illegal is a bridge too far for me. 99.9% of moms won't so this is a punishment I. Search of a crime.

[exitseven]

It should be child endgerment. Same with all illegal drugs too.

[Chazmatazz269]

It definitely should be.

[seeyounexttuesday]

Nope.

[MasterKS]

Its personal choice.