Nancy,
No-one has said that formula should be banned, the original report states that ALL the facts should be made available to women, and currently this is NOT the case, as women are give the impression that Breast is Best and therefore something above and beyond the NORMAL way of feeding.
Through implication this then infers that FF is the normal thing to do for your infant, when it just isn't, if you look at the way that mammals are designed to feed their young. We have mammary glands for a reason above and beyond looking sexy!
FF is a substitute for when BF is not possible (and no-one here is IMHO being judgey about whether people should bf or ff)
The original point of this debate is about how to turn the rhetoric around, not to make ff an evil activity that should be frowned upon - I've not come across many opinions that aren't pro-choice on here, BUT so that BF becomes tha baseline assessment for judging infant nutrition.
If you are pro ff, and that is a personal choice, then even if bm was used as a baseline it would be good for ff babies too, because it would further encourage formula companies to refine their products and therefore improve the nutritional benefits for ALL babies, regardless of whether they are ff, bf or mf.
How can you disagree with improving the nutrition of all children?
Also if the facts were presented in a more (IMO) honest way then all womankind could benefit from the preventative affects of BF, or at least make a truly informed decision.
I'm lucky, I BF for an extended period of time, it was pure chance that I have reduced my personal risks of a variety of potentially life limiting conditions. Other women aren't as fortunate BUT they should have been given the choice. It may have helped some women to persevere with what can be a distressing and frustrating experience. Skills training for ALL should be available...
The government makes enough of a fuss about advertising the benefits of exercise to the wider population and how this could REDUCE the risk of heart disease, so why not publicise the facts about BF, even if you only believe it is a 3-4% reduction.
I agree with you that people should be treated with enough respect to allow them to form their own decisions. They need the information to do this. I firmly believe that the true facts on bf and ff are NOT being made available to women, men or children and this is a patronising and dis empowering thing to do!