Writer's Block: You and me and baby makes three

[mdlbear]

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I do, but... Some people really have no business being parents. Overpopulation is a problem in many parts of the world. But once you start regulating the ability of people to form households and have children, you're well on your way down a slippery slope that leads to other forms of oppression and control.

So, yeah -- the right to reproduce is pretty fundamental. But if there were a way to encourage people to be responsible about exercising it, that would be good.

Comments

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

But there's a slippery upslope as well ... if you say it is a fundamental human right, then, in the UK at least, that leads to the National Health Service paying for IVF treatments.

There's a lot more thought in my mind about close genetic relatives being allowed or even medically supported to have children.

And that leads on to whether there is a corresponding right to scan for foetal deformaties and other abnormalities and whether there should be societal or state support for terminations of (unborn) children that fall short in some way of normality/perfection ...

... and *how many* children is a right? If you have eight kids already, should you be able to get state-funded IVF to have more children (either with the father of some or all of the previous 8 or with your current partner if different)

Should a single male have the right to have children? To adopt? Should there be any restrictions? What about people over the age of 70?

Far too complex for a bear of small mind like mine :-)

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I think having 2 children, when you are of an age to be trusted with babies, and can reasonably expect to be able to support them, is a fundamental right. Other stuff we can negotiate about.

Personally I'd like to see all teenagers implanted at puberty with birth control that will last to age 21 at a minimum. Yeah, it's controlling, but I'm not seeing a down side at the moment.

[mdlbear]

Neither am I. There isn't a universal good method, but my younger daughter is happy with her IUD.

It was particularly amusing to go with her on her first appointment and have the person at the desk ask whether she wanted the prescription to be confidential. Sad, too, that some parents don't care enough about their kids to want them to be on birth control when they get to the age where they might be sexually active.

Some people really have no business being parents

[saffronrose.livejournal.com]

I met the first ones in junior high school. Their daughters did nothing to deserve such treatment of them when it came time to go to college--well, that was the single most egregious thing they did in their smug little brains. The eldest, V, was my friend, and it felt as if I weren't there in the mornings to bike to school with her, she'd NEVER get out of the house on time.

I didn't like her parents to begin with, and after their stunt denying them access to scholarships (and their own funding) for college, I never wanted to see those people again for fear I'd rip their throats out.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

But it's good that she had the option of having the prescription confidential

I agree; it is sad that some parents are so misguided that they would interfere with their kids' access to birth control.