Sterilization option being sold to addicts - right or wrong?

[xterm]

I came across this article a while back and have had some rather heated exchanges on another message board concerning this practice. I'm personally aghast that this sort of thing goes on in 21st Century America, but that's just my opinion. Anyone else feel one way or another about this topic?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3189763.stm

[User]

Ethically I see nothing wrong with this. If someone wants to sterilize themselves for money, then they are making their own decision. Whether that is the "right" one is open for debate.

The person is offering a voluntary service. As long as such a program is voluntary, I don't see a problem.

[Vandrare]

i would have to question wether an addict is in the right state of mind to decide if they want to be sterilised for the rest of their lives. if a woman is absolutely desperate for a bit of cash to buy more drugs, and decides this is the only way to get a bit of quick cash, it's not going to be well thought out or considered but done in the throes of the withdrawal. i don't really see this as a problem if they can choose a contraceptive implant which isn't permanent. then if they become clean in a few years and decide they want kids, they still have a chance to do so.
i would be interested to hear what the women who have participated in this feel about it in a couple of years time.

[southernhybrid]

Since the program is voluntary and it also offers the option of birth control methods other than sterilization, I'm having a hard time finding it immoral. I am biased though. I've worked in public health, seen babies born with horrible birth defects to addicted mothers and have been in many homes where young children lived in deplorable conditons that often included neglect and abuse. I can gather a lot more moral outrage about those things than about the program in question.

It would be better if the monetary reward were removed. I worked as a public health nurse many years ago and many of my patients were thrilled to have federally subsidized sterilizations without any monetary reward. I think that many of these people would also take advantage of that option. How would you feel if the monetary reward were removed but all other aspects remained the same? I think it's a bit insulting to assume that these individuals don't have enough sense to realize that they need to control their reproduction. I think that many of them just haven't been given the education and opportunity to use effective birth control methods, and/or they lack motivation to use most methods.

Many of my former patients didn't want any more chldren but lacked the motivation, and knowledge to use most birth control methods with any consistency. I had 19 year old patient who had four or five past pregnancies. I had one patient who sat in my office in tears because she was too young to participate in the sterilization program. She had five children and was terrified of becoming pregnant again. Like I said, I am biased due to my experience. I can't afford to have idealistic views on such things any longer. We don't live in an ideal world.

[Zora]

Every addict at some point was not an addict. A conscious decision was made to take addictive drugs. The decision to take drugs has consequences. If the addict then chooses to sell her ability to have children in the future for a fix now...that decision has consequences. Some decisions are irrevocable. That's the way it is in my life and in the life of all responsible people.

I realize some addicts have bad situations which may have led to their drug use...poverty, abuse, neglect. We must also work to eliminate those societal factors. The continued production of deformed, mentally handicapped and addicted babies does not alleviate any of those problems, and in fact contributes to them.

If we stop viewing childlessness as a disease, perhaps a woman who has chosen sterilization during drug addition can find other ways to feel fulfilled. She must face up to her decision and not blame somebody else because they offered her cash and she took it.

If there is no coercion, if there is counseling regarding sterilization, then I would rather see the service provided for free. But, I have no objection to a cash incentive, either.

[sodium]

Originally posted by southernhybrid
I am biased though. I've worked in public health, seen babies born with horrible birth defects to addicted mothers and have been in many homes where young children lived in deplorable conditons that often included neglect and abuse. I can gather a lot more moral outrage about those things than about the program in question.


Being informed isn't the same thing as being biased.

[XtrueOloveX]

I think it's perfectly fine to give drug addicts and alcoholics this option. For one thing, why would you want to risk getting so wasted or so high one night that you end up pregnant and then the baby is the one to suffer when and if it is born? And if it is a very unwanted pregnancy, what happens then? Abort it? I personally do not believe in abortion simply because you are an unfit parent. It's like throwing away all responsibility and accountability for your actions. I think allowing this sterilization option will help keep innocent potential lives from being destroyed by the mistakes of the parents.

[excreationist]

Vandrare:
i would have to question wether an addict is in the right state of mind to decide if they want to be sterilised for the rest of their lives.

http://www.projectprevention.org/program/index.html

The people get US$200 for either 1 year of temporary birth control - or permanent birth control. So to qualify they can just do it for 1 year...
"Most participants who choose permanent birth control are those who have already had far more children than most people have in a lifetime."

From their faq:
http://www.projectprevention.org/program/faqs.html
3. Some say that these people are not capable of deciding on long-term birth control?

If you can not trust someone with their reproductive choices, how can you trust them with a child?

Besides the drug addicts often having the children by accident and not looking after them very well, the children often are born with health problems/disabilities. (e.g. being addicted to drugs or being more likely to have ADHD)