[Peace-discuss] for children who are wanted

[C. G. Estabrook]

Lisa--

The US has a long history of eugenicist and natalist policies -- and it
encourages such things in the Third World now -- to prevent the birth of
"unwanted people."  Che Guevara is reported (probably apocryphally) to
have said, "It's easier to kill a guerrilla in the womb than in the
hills."

May 2 marks the 77th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court
decision on favor of eugenic sterilization for people considered
genetically unfit. The Court's decision (by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)  
included the infamous phrase, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
Relying on the expert testimony of one Arthur Estabrook, the court
permitted laws in 30 states under which an estimated 65,000 Americans were
sterilized without their own consent or that of a family member.  The
German practice, instituted a few years later, relied explicitly on the US
precedents.

Alexander Cockburn at Counterpunch has written on these matters, but not
too many others on the left do, so far as I can tell.  An obvious
implication is the need to demand child allowances, universal health care,
guaranteed annual incomes, etc.  Capitalist society would rather provide
for the removal of unwanteds.

Regards, Carl


On Mon, 26 Apr 2004, Lisa Chason wrote:

> I once read an article about a study that made the point that the
> dramatic decrease in crime figures that began some years ago, which
> many experts have found puzzling and have come up with various
> theories to explain, coincides with the same number of years that had
> passed since the introduction of Roe v Wade and the coming of age of
> all those unwanted children (ie that the crime figures started to
> decrease when the right to an abortion had been in effect around 18
> years). Women having the opportunity to choose means not bringing
> unwanted children into the world, and all the ramifications that
> follow. Women's right to choose means being in favor of children who
> are wanted. This is not to say that all people who end up in our
> insane criminal (in)justice system were not wanted, but women who do
> not want to bear a child for whatever reason should not be forced to
> do so, or to resort to illegal and dangerous abortions when they have
> no other choice.
> 
> Lisa