The Zika virus is a mosquito borne virus that is devastating for pregnant women, causing microcephaly in fetuses.  The World Health Organization calls it an international emergency.

The government of El Salvador has asked it’s women not to get pregnant until 2018. Okaaaay. It’s also true that El Salvador is not a country that supports family planning and contraception and criminalizes abortion. So… how… is… that… going… to work?

A Country Without Babies is Uri Friedman’s exploration of that question, and so much more, in the Atlantic.

El Salvador has asked women to avoid getting pregnant until 2018, while countries such as Brazil and Colombia have suggested waiting several months, or indefinitely. Imagine you are trying to get pregnant, or already are, and you hear that message from your government. Would you take it seriously? And if you did, and all your peers did, what would that actually look like five, or 25, years out? Classes with no or hardly any students? Baby stores forced out of business? A depleted younger generation unable to support older ones?