I'm with the judge on this one. They both should be sterilized!

Judge Orders N.Y. Couple Not to Conceive

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - A couple has been ordered not to conceive any more children until the ones they already have are no longer in foster care.

A civil liberties advocate said the court ruling unsealed Friday was ``blatantly unconstitutional.''

Monroe County Family Court Judge Marilyn O'Connor ruled March 31 that both parents ``should not have yet another child which must be cared for at public expense.''

``The facts of this case and the reality of parenthood cry out for family planning education,'' she ruled. ``This court believes the constitutional right to have children is overcome when society must bear the financial and everyday burden of care.''

The judge is not forcing contraception on the couple nor is she requiring the mother to get an abortion should she become pregnant. The couple may choose to be sterilized at no cost to them, O'Connor ruled.

If the couple violates O'Connor's ruling, they could be jailed for contempt of court.

``I don't know of any precedent that would permit a judge to do this,'' Anna Schissel, staff attorney for the Reproductive Rights Project of the New York Civil Liberties Union, told the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester. ``And even if there were a precedent, it would be blatantly unconstitutional because it violates the United States Constitution and the New York Constitution.''

Neither parent attended the proceeding or secured legal representation. The mother waived her right to a lawyer, and the father never showed up in court.

The mother was found to have neglected her four children, ages 1, 2, 4 and 5. All three children who were tested for cocaine tested positive, according to court papers. Both parents had a history of drug abuse. It was not immediately clear if the father had other children.

You need a license to cut hair. None needed to have a houseful of kids.

You want the state out of your business? Then keep care of your own offspring.

All future offspring should be raised and paid for by: Anna Schissel, staff attorney for the Reproductive Rights Project .

Dangerous territory, Dave.

What's to stop the courts from making such decisions when genetic engineering advances to the point where predisposition to disease is predictable?

The courts could mandate a genetic profile for every marriage and then determine whether or not the couple may bear children based on what diseases the child may be predisposed to having.

Of course the idea of people having children to intentionally subvert the system is ugly, morally wrong and punishable. An even worse offense IMO would be to let the courts decide who can and can't have children.


.....or.......


Yet another reason to allow gay marriages. No troublesome children plugging up the welfare system.

As an example....

Say Joshua decided to marry a girl with OI... His offspring would have a ninety percent chance of having the same condition....would you deny him the opportunity to bear children based on the odds that his offspring would wind up 'on the dole'?