Here's a liberal money shot for you. The question is not sympathy for these people but for their children. Is it fair to punish a baby for his or her irresponsible parents? Or, from a utilitarian perspective, is it a good deal for society to have to pick up the lifetime cost of birth defects and/or developmental delays when better medical care would have prevented all of it?
AH | 03.13.07 - 7:09 am | #

AH - I agree on the concept of preventive care vs. treatment. However, you open a pandora's box of nannying when we talk about what society owes a child because of irresponsible parents. I think the biggest danger there is when we start talking about preventing or controlling certain behaviors because of the "cost to society."
Mike | 03.13.07 - 11:08 am | #

AH,

The solution is to take kids away from irresponsible parents. We should also take kids away from parents who do not have the means to support them. Actually, I would prosecute people who have babies that they don't have the means to support. Bringing a kid into the world that you don't have money to raise should be a crime.
cicero | Homepage | 03.13.07 - 11:39 am | #

Yeah, those damn beta minuses going around, having more babies than they can support...
Area Man | 03.13.07 - 12:52 pm | #

cicero,

when you say "we" who do you mean? do you have an alternative concept to the child protective services?

just wondering.
Minerva Oblongata | 03.13.07 - 2:34 pm | #

Minerva,

By "We" I meant people other than me, of course.
cicero | Homepage | 03.13.07 - 6:35 pm | #