The response of Peggy Robin (author of BoF'ing Without Guilt) to Jeffrey
Fouche's letter got me to thinking again.....  and much as I hate to admit
it, I think she has a point when she notes that there is *no* circumstance
under which cigarette smoking would be a healthy practice but there *are*
circumstances where formula feeding is "healthy."  I have been a little
uncomfortable with the many comments made along these lines, equating bottle
feeding with cigarette smoking, for precisely that reason.  All of us know of
babies who, for their health and well-being, needed to be given ABM.  None of
us know anyone who *needed* cigarettes in order to improve their health.

I know, I know:  the point is that cigarettes and ABM both contribute to
increased rates of cancer, heart disease and a general level of inadequate
health.  My point is that there is absolutely no therapeutic use for
cigarettes, but in certain unusual situations, there is a therapeutic
application for ABM.  I'm afraid that we do not win people over when we liken
formula feeding to cigarette smoking;  instead we contribute to the image of
"zealotry" by equating what most see as innocuous (ABM)  with what everyone
knows is bad (cigarettes).

Now ABM is NOT innocuous, I know!   And Lord knows when I see a bottle of
formula at a baby's lips it certainly looks as bad as a cigarette to ME.  But
for the population at large the leap from one to the other is just too
foreign - it is outside the conventional frame of reference.

Sorry I don't have a catchy substitute for "Smoking Without Guilt," which has
the advantage of making a good point with flourish and drama.   Just
thinking....... (maybe too much!)

Mary Renard
Vienna VA USA