No analogy is going to be perfect; the only thing ABM is exactly like is
ABM.  Some analogies can be taken further than others.  Perhaps ABM can be
more closely likened to heroin; in a great number of medical circumstances,
both are good, both prevent human suffering.  In most cases, however,  they
are self-prescribed and cause problems.

The point of an analogy is to reframe people's viewpoint for them; take
them to a place they have insulated themselves against so that they can
better absorb new information.  In that case, either cigarettes or heroin
would do as an analogy.

When I use a particularly shocking analogy (and I haven't used either of
the above--yet), I always dance back a couple steps before they have a
chance to catch their breath, and soothingly assure them that of course it
isn't as bad as all that.  Then with the next breath, I dance forward
again--just a bit--well, perhaps the analogy has some merit, after
all...give them examples.  Keep them uncomfortable.  Make them think.  Make
them make up their own minds...

Personally, I generally use the analogy of insulin.  When one needs it, one
buys and uses it.  No one would attempt to market insulin to non-diabetics.
It would be an expensive second-best to what we can make ourselves, and
exposure to the artificial substitute would increase our health risk
unnecessarily.  It's a safe analogy, not shocking, good for audiences who
must be given an objective scientific presentation.

("Objective" cannot mean "unbiased."  Any rational scientific inquiry
yields the objective conclusion that breastfeeding is superior.)

It's a tricky dance, isn't it?  Pushing the envelope just enough to help
people think, but not so much that they shut down their critical thinking
in order to preserve their existing worldview.

[log in to unmask] (Arly Helm, MS, CLE, IBCLC)