"Neither the state nor the anti-smoker industry owns our children"
Friday, June 28, 2013 at 12:06 Further to my previous post, Pat Nurse has written an article on the subject of smoking and pregnancy for The Free Society.
Pat writes:
The media needs to get a grip and realise that a parent’s worth doesn’t start and end with whether they enjoy one legal product over another – a product, incidentally, enjoyed by many generations before them who had healthy happy babies ...
Anti-smokers would do well to stick to the core message that smoking CAN be harmful to unborn babies because that is a message that resonates. Going off the scale into fantasy phobia land makes ideological health campaigners look like laughing stocks that no one heeds ...
The bottom line is women own their own bodies. Neither the state nor the anti-smoker industry owns our children and this judgemental and negative approach to force them to quit a legal product will only result in the alienation of those women who need healthcare, compassion and support the most.
See: Alienating and criminalising pregnant women (The Free Society)
H/T Chas for posting a link to Pat's appearance on Five Live Breakfast this morning. Click here and go to 1.24.00.
Reader Comments (3)
Pat made an interesting point this morning on R5L. Worthy of a Daily Mash headline.
Warning to parents by Public Health experts: abortion carries serious risk to your unborn child.
I'm not against abortions but there should be some acknowledgement of comparative risks by Public Health Experts. Linda Bauld thinks 300 deaths is a problem.
Excellent stuff, Pat Nurse, very good indeed. Frankly, you hammered them. All that was left was the usual appeals to authority. I notice the clowns didn't pick up on Pat having four children with no problems and explore it, just carried on pushing the agenda.
Love the one about the CO group! Answer that one, then!
I've just listened to the whole piece Pat. You played a blinder when you only had split seconds for thought. I'm not saying that simply from a partisan perspective. You got some very relevant points across. Your comments rang true.