Drug Addicts Bribed Into Sterilization

In America drug addicts are given money in exchange for being sterilized. The theory is they shouldn’t have children and they need some incentive to get the procedure done.

Project Prevention has now come to the UK and is paying addicts in London, Glasgow, Bristol, Leicester and parts of Wales £200 to get the snip.

The founder of Project Prevention, Barbara Harris, knows it is bribery. But that’s perfectly fine by her because it is “the only way to stop babies being physically and mentally damaged by drugs during pregnancy.”

The conflict comes from taking advantage of vulnerable people who might not realize what they are getting themselves in to and won’t be able to change their minds at a later date.

Surely long-term and reversible contraception is a better option. For example, the IUD is good for 5 to 10 years. This is fine for women, but what are men to do? The only contraception on the market for men is condoms and these will very easily be forgotten when under the influence.

It may be controversial, but I think if this is done right it doesn’t have to be a bad choice. If the charity does a proper psychological examination of the patient and makes sure they are in a fit state to give full informed consent, then is it really such a big deal?

“John”, the first British man to take advantage of the scheme, is 38-years-old, has been an addict since the age of 12, and has been thinking about getting a vasectomy “for a long time”. He knows he can’t support himself and “won’t be able to support a kid.”

Seems to me like this is the right choice for him and he knows it. So long as all other options have been exhausted, and this is a last resort (i.e. not forced onto people), it could help a lot of families.

Obviously, getting him off drugs and back on a straight path would be better, and it’s possible that this will happen one day and he will regret his decision. But isn’t there a chance that anyone who gets sterilized might regret it?

The future can’t be predicted, and if someone has been on drugs for a long time, doesn’t want kids, and doesn’t think they could support kids, then maybe Project Prevention is doing a good service by stopping the birth of another unwanted child whose parents can’t take care of them.

However, there is no evidence of any kind of psychological assessment of their clients and without that this is simply a campaign of forced sterilization — something I could never agree with.