(MIT Technology Review) – Women are also often subjected to medical advice designed to protect a potential fetus, whether they are pregnant or not. Official guidelines on how much mercury-containing fish it is safe to eat can be different for “women of childbearing age,” according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, for example.  And in 2021, the World Health Organization used the same language to describe people who should be a focus of policies to reduce alcohol consumption.

The takeaway message is that it’s women who should be thinking about fetal health, says Cattapan. Not the industries producing these chemicals or the agencies that regulate them. Not even the men who contribute to a pregnancy. Just women who stand a chance of getting pregnant, whether they intend to or not. (Read More)