Salon has an interesting article (sorry, you’ll have to click through an ad to read it) about a new program called CRACK (Children Requiring A Caring Kommunity) that pays drug addicts to take birth control or get sterilized.

I’m not really sure how I feel about the whole concept, and it would probably take me quite some time to work through all the issues, but I did find that people’s reactions to the program are quite telling.

First, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are furious. Their argument is that the group preys on minorities and the poor. Well, a quick scan of the article will find statistics regarding CRACK’s patient demographic, and suprising, the racial percentages are fairly level. As far as preying on the poor, well, there is some merit to that. $200 is another fix for a drug addict. But….most drug addicts would do what they could to score that next fix, and part of me says that it’s better that they aren’t conceiving kids that will live their days in foster care with potential health problems. The argument is also made that money donated to CRACK might be better off given to drug rehab centers. There is truth to that as well, but I can’t believe that Planned Parenthood doesn’t receive both public and private donations to help pregnant drug addicts. Shouldn’t they offer to give that money up as well?

Second, there is the troubling allegation that this program amounts to “Hitler-esque eugenics.” That’s quite a stretch. A person can receive a one-time $200 payment for sterilization through the CRACK program, or $200 per year to stay on birth control. Granted, many people opt for sterilization, but isn’t birth control a better deal (they aren’t just distributing the pill either…most of the time it’s a once a month type method)? One of the heads of the group, Barbara Harris, responded this way:

Harris says that the claim that she and others involved with CRACK are practicing social engineering is ludicrous. “We are not picking on the poor,” she says. “We’re just helping people who need our help but have nowhere else to go.” She pauses and then adds: “Paltrow should adopt some of these children and then try and criticize me.”

I can’t argue with her there. Many of the critics of the program have probably never taken care of a child that suffers from the drug habits of their mother. Like I said, I’m not sure if this program is right, but its critics aren’t offering anything but criticism–and that doesn’t help the people that really need it.

Posted on 8 April 2003