A University of Alaska program to put free pregnancy tests in bars and restaurants is aiming to combat fetal alcohol syndrome.
Starting in December, the $400,000 program will place the free tests, along with posters that warn women against
drinking while pregnant, in 20 establishments, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Alaska has the highest rate of fetal alcohol syndrome in the U.S., the newspaper said, and women in Alaska are 20 percent more likely to binge drink than the national average.
Fetal alcohol syndrome can occur within a month of conception and causes brain damage and growth problems in children.
"This is really focused on the 50 percent of unexpected pregnancies, to find out they are pregnant as early as possible," Jody Allen Crowe told the newspaper. Crowe, who is helping with the project, founded a nonprofit organization in Minnesota that established a similar program there.
Alaska Sen. Pete Kelly proposed the program, hoping that women would act responsibly upon learning they are pregnant.
Janet Johnson, a biostatistics professor at the University of Alaska,
told "Today" that the program would provide data to evaluate whether such an effort is effective.
Twitter users reacted with surprise.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.