Is it eugenics, bribery, or a clever way of fixing social dysfunction? A North Carolina-based charity is paying U.K. drug addicts to be sterilized, with the hope being that it will save money for the taxpayer in the long run. The idea went over swimmingly in the United States but is encountering resistance in Britain. BBC News reports:
The first person in the UK to accept the cash is drug addict “John” from Leicester who says he “should never be a father”.
The move has been criticised by some drug charities who work with addicts. Project Prevention founder Barbara Harris admitted her methods amounted to “bribery”, but said it was the only way to stop babies being physically and mentally damaged by drugs during pregnancy.
Mrs Harris set up her charity in North Carolina after adopting the children of a crack addict. Speaking to the BBC’s Inside Out programme, she said: “The birth mother of my children obviously dabbled in all drugs and alcohol – she literally had a baby every year for eight years…I get very angry about the damage that drugs do to these children.”
