Judge orders woman to stop having babies.

[David S]

From CNN.com

Judge orders drug addict to stop having children
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 Posted: 7:44 AM EST (1244 GMT)
   
   
ROCHESTER, New York (AP) -- A Family Court judge who last year stirred debate about parental responsibilities ordered a second drug-addicted woman to have no more children until she proves she can look after the seven she already has.
The 31-year-old mother, identified in court papers only as Judgette W., lost custody of her children, ranging in age from eight months to 12 years, in child-neglect hearings dating back to 2000. Six are in foster care at state expense and one lives with an aunt.
The youngest child and two others tested positive for cocaine at birth and all seven "were removed from her care and custody because she could not and did not take care of them," Judge Marilyn O'Connor said in a December 22 decision made public Tuesday.
"Because every child born deserves a mother and a father, or at the very least a mother or a father, this court is once again taking this unusual step of ordering this biological mother to conceive no more children until she reclaims her children from foster care or other caretakers," O'Connor wrote

[David S]

This issue is not so clear cut to me. On the one hand the mother should have the right to make her own decisions about childbearing. But on the other hand, with rights come responsibilities and this woman obviously is totally irresponsible. Is it a right for her to keep having drug-addicted babies which she cannot support and which ultimately become wards of the state?

[David S]

BTW the article also went on to say that judge  really has no way to enforce the order other than by throwing her in jail for contempt of court if she gets pregnant again. That doesn't seem like an ideal solution either.

The article raises a broader question of what to do with people who are basket cases who will not live their lives in a responsible manner and consequently become a problem for the rest of society. Seems to me that communism was made for people like that.

[David S]

Outrageous that the state would take a mother's children from her and even more outrageous that it would deprive her of her reproductive rights to have more children.

Something like a third or more of children in the US are born in to a dangerous and poor situation.   

May I ask where you got that information?

[David S]

One of the founders once said that our constitution was made for a moral people and that it would be totally inadequate for anything else. This lady would be a good example of "anything else".  In her case forced sterilization sounds like a good idea, but that is incompatible with the kind of free society that we all cherish. It seems like we need some way of dealing with goofs like her without infringing on the rights of responsible people.