NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Roman Catholic Archbishop Alfred Hughes has denounced a lawmaker’s proposal to pay poor people to undergo sterilization as “an egregious affront to those targeted and blatantly anti-life.”
“Our lawmakers would do better to focus on policies that promote education and achievement to counteract poverty and the bigotry of low expectations, ” Hughes said in a statement Thursday (Sept. 25).
Hughes spoke out in response to a proposal by state Rep. John Labruzzo, a Republican from suburban Metairie, to combat poverty by offering poor women and men $1,000 to undergo reproductive sterilization and vasectomies. In addition, the lawmaker said he is considering whether to propose tax incentives for college-educated people to have more children.
Hughes appears to be the first major local clergyman to take a public stand on the issue, which Labruzzo broached Tuesday. Archdiocesan spokeswoman Sarah Comiskey said the Catholic Church would oppose Labruzzo’s plan in Baton Rouge if he turns it into legislation.
Hughes based his opposition on two elements of Labruzzo’s proposal:
the technique of direct sterilization and the underlying purpose of manipulating the birth rate to reduce certain populations as a matter of public policy.
Catholic teaching holds that tubal ligation and vasectomy are wrong, because they rob sexuality of one of its main purposes, the transmission of life.
More broadly, the plan “would also constitute a form of eugenics that the church and this country have always condemned,” Hughes said.
Copyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
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posted September 26, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Ugh, eugenics. How disturbing. Whatever the archbishop’s reasons for doing so, he’s right to oppose this kind of madness.
posted September 26, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Or we could offer money to sterilize the stupid – or the morally bankrupt, like Rep. LaBruzzo. Obviously this guy dozed through history class for several years.
posted September 26, 2008 at 8:10 pm
If memory serves me correctly (and that could be doubtful) I remember there was a scandal in a southern state, and I don’t know where or exactly how long ago, where women (mostly if not all black) were sterilized after the birth of a child, without their knowledge. They just thought they weren’t able to get pregnant again. Somehow it was revealed, and the doctor punished. Labruzzo has to be out of his mind! He wants to combat poverty by offering $1,000 to men and women to be sterilized? If a woman or man doesn’t want any more children, they have that option. It isn’t up to any government to promote that. It is a personal decision. AND he wants tax incentives to pay college educated people to have MORE children? How obvious are these 2 purposals? Let’s hope his state representatives have more sense then to even think about supporting this awful idea.
In this case, the RCC is doing the right thing objecting to this. However, their reasons (goes against the churche’s teachings) I don’t agree with. Again if a Catholic man or woman decides to be sterilized, it is not the churche’s business.
posted September 26, 2008 at 8:54 pm
“A Republican from suburban Metairie?!” Okay, I’m suddenly really hoping we have some way to kick people out.
Of course, his proposal makes perfect, practical sense—this and his proposed incentive for college graduates (which I probably would support) would likely increase the economic state of the country if widely enacted. But, of course, so would, say, forced eugenics, and I think this may be the very first little baby step. Hopefully the RCC will be more successful on this issue and their other attempts in pro-life issues.
God bless.
posted September 26, 2008 at 11:50 pm
This kind of thing begs for abuse and biased application. While there’s a certain logic behind it, it starts us down a slippery slope we do not want to be on.
posted September 27, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Does this man intend to pay the people out of his own pocket?
Someone should explain to him that he can’t play games with humans. One thousand dollars? Does he think because they are poor at this time in their life that they will stay that way? Being short on money doesn’t make you stupid’ buying the rights of a persons body for a mere $1,000.00 would be stealing, and unacceptable by anyone. Giving a tax incentive to people who are college graduates, so they have more children? That would be wrong as well, playing games with humans again! He’s saying that people who chose not to go to college shouldn’t have tax incentives for more children, because their children won’t contribute as college parents children will. He should be in another profession if this is all he can contribute.
posted September 27, 2008 at 10:15 pm
This brings to mind an episode of Law and Order: SVU that dealt with a female doctor who was sterilizing women for some stupid reason.
This is one of the stupidest things I’ve heard. I mentioned this to my mother and she agrees that this makes no sense. Why is he targeting the poor? Does he believe they’re going populate the world with criminals? Also, what defines ‘poor’. Are people who don’t make enough money be targeted? Either way, this idiot shouldn’t be a lawmaker if he’s going after people like this.
posted September 29, 2008 at 10:04 am
This reminds me of something my great-grandmother asked years ago:
“Why is it that Mexicans ‘breed like rabbits,’ but white people are ‘blessed with large families’?”
posted October 13, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I don’t think you can say “white people are blessed with large families’ anymore. the average white family has only 2 children, it’s almost unheard of to have 8-10 or 12 kids these days. People seem to think it’s wrong somehow. I guess that’s because of the Feminists movement and organizations like Planned Parenthood who’s founder, Margaret Sanger did and do believe in Eugenics wether they admit or not, they also love to kill unborn babies and they make a great living doing it. It’s big money. Gee I believe it was Adolf Hitler who also was for Eugenics.
Whatever, whoever thnks this is ok-it’s wrong. God created everyone one of us because He wanted us to have a relationship with Him, I’m sure He does not take kindly to people killing off His Creation. ( See Psalm 139 esp.vs 13-16)God has a plan for each of us and that means He had a plan for those innocent unborn babies nobody seems to want.