Committee opinion: no. 563: ethical issues in pandemic influenza planning concerning pregnant women.

Pregnant women traditionally have been assigned priority in the allocation of prevention and treatment resources during outbreaks of influenza because of their increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The Committee on Ethics of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists explores ethical justifications for assigning priority for prevention and treatment resources to pregnant women during an influenza pandemic, makes recommendations to incorporate ethical issues in pandemic influenza planning concerning pregnant women, and calls for pandemic preparedness efforts to include clinical research specifically designed to address safety and efficacy of treatment interventions or prevention strategies used by pregnant women.