Picture this — A woman is attempting to buy liquor. The salesperson asks for her license, and then for her pregnancy card. If she is, or may ever become pregnant, she is not allowed to buy alcohol. That's right. Because of new federal guidelines for women capable of conceiving a baby, the idea of women indicating their pregnancy status does not seem far off.

The guidelines were established from the idea that women should maintain healthy lives, whether or not they are trying to conceive a baby.

Guidelines ask all women capable of conceiving a baby to always treat themselves as pre-pregnant, regardless of if they plan to conceive anytime soon.

This includes taking folic acid supplements, refraining from smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and keeping chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes under control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

Now, if you take off the part about "women capable of conceiving a baby," it seems like common sense.

Yes, everyone should do their best to maintain and improve their health. This includes men, women, children — any human being. But the second "women capable of conceiving children" is added on, classes and categories are erected where they were absent before.

These same classes being established by categorizing women as either capable of conceiving or not are what feminists have been trying to dispel for years.

Viewing women as people meant only to rear children is the basis of gender inequality and an underlying reason for sex discrimination.

Why don't we just refer to women as vessels from now on? If we are pointing out the differences between certain classes of women and telling them how to act, then we might as well skip being politically correct and call women the most appropriate name.

Incubator just doesn't flow as well.

The guidelines, which seem helpful to the entire public, may also establish barriers within the female sex. For instance, a woman capable of having a baby would be restricted to fewer opportunities and personal choices than a menopausal woman.

Rather than preparing women to fulfill their destiny of bringing life into the world, we should be telling the entire population to focus on health. Although women should refrain from smoking to benefit their health, so too should men for the same reason.

After all, conceiving a baby requires both a male and a female.