And will this stop this woman from doing drugs or having children
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Judge Orders Drug Addict to Stop Having Children.
A judge in Rochester, NY has ordered a drug-addicted woman to not have anymore children.
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.
[...]
O'Connor said she was not forcing contraception or sterilization on the mother, who had children with seven different men, nor requiring her to get an abortion should she become pregnant. But she warned that the woman could be jailed for contempt if she has another child.
Here comes the local civil liberties group, on cue.
The New York Civil Liberties Union maintained that the opinion cannot be enforced because it "tramples on a fundamental right -- the right to procreate."
"There is no question the circumstances of this case are deeply troubling," said the group's executive director, Donna Lieberman. "But ordering a woman under threat of jail not to have any more babies ... puts the court squarely in the bedroom. And that's no place for the government."
Also no place for the government is the use of taxpayer money to support the child-bearing habits of a drug-addicted mother. At some point consequences need to be introduced. This mother has put her kids at risk and will continue to do so unless shown some consequences. I mean, it's one thing to put yourself at risk, but when your behavior jeopardizes the health of others, especially children, someone's got to step in. What the civil liberties union is essentially saying is that drug-addict mothers are entitled to having us, the taxpayers, fund the upbringing of their children -- and future children -- until they are healthy and stable enough to care for them, which could be never.
Another question for the New York Civil Liberties Union: what makes you think it's our fundamental right to procreate? Does this go for everybody? Does a serial killer in prison serving several life sentences have the "fundamental right" to procreate? Must the wardens temporarily let him out or supply a doublewide whenever he wants to participate in the life-making process?
Better yet, if I want to have a baby, is it my right that you -- woman -- bear it? Even if you don't want to?
Does a couple have the right to procreate if they know their genetics guarantee their offspring will have some debilitating illness or retardation?
With respect to the addict-mother above, it's not so much a procreation issue as it is a criminal issue.
www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/05/children.ruling.ap
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti.../5/91117.shtml
apnews.myway.com/article/20050105/D87DMCL80.html
www.michnews.net/Drug_Abuse
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