Are children a right?

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  • janiebeth
    janiebeth Posts: 2,509 Member
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    Oh, oops - I'm in the wrong place.

    I thought the post was "Are children alright?"

    :grumble: :grumble:
  • VeganInTraining
    VeganInTraining Posts: 1,321 Member
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    You are the queen of asking questions that are bound to get blocked.....I like you!

    I see what you're saying and I'm totally opposed to continually reproducing through you don't have the means. HOWEVER, like one other guy said it's not my position to decide who can and can not have children. Do i think it's extremely irresponsible to have children that you can't provide for? YEP! Do I wish that we could sterelize some people who just keep breeding? YEP (most of south Jersey in fact) Do I think that it is OK to tell someone how many kids they can have? NOPE

    Also, I think that if you maybe can't provide as well as MOST people would say that you should but you don't need government assistance or you are actively working to get off that assistance and you can provide that child with a loving home then go for it.
  • fudgebudget
    fudgebudget Posts: 198 Member
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    I think that the right to NOT have children should be more emphasized than any right TO have them - I would feel much better about my tax dollars going to provide free universal birth control and family planning services for those who want them than I do about them going to subsidize families who have no intention of providing for themselves.

    That said, I don't know how you regulate it in a way that doesn't infringe upon the right to privacy, etc.

    The system is flawed and there's no real way to change it that doesn't hurt the children who didn't ask to be here in the first place. If you manage to figure out a solution for that one, you get a cookie. A big one.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    I think parent's need to be responsible and plan for their children just like any financial investment ( I know kids are much more than a financial investment ). If you know you cannot take care of them financially, emotionally, physically, then it is not fair to the child.
  • Shannon023
    Shannon023 Posts: 14,529 Member
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    This was a topic on the radio yesterday.

    "Christina, has a terminal disease and has only been given 5 years to live. Her final dying wish is to be able to have a child and the doctors say that she will be healthy enough to bear a child within the next year. Unfortunately, her husband does not want to be a single dad after she’s gone so he doesn’t want to give her the last dying wish. What do you think? Should her husband grant her wish?"

    http://www2.alice1059.com/listen/slacker-and-steve-dying-wish-part-1-927

    My thoughts are that they shouldn't have the baby. :ohwell:
  • janmanson
    janmanson Posts: 2
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    It is part of the human rights to bear children.

    I have five, which includes twins. I have on occasion relied on benefits.

    This is a topic that will never get an answer as there is a need for children to be born to continue to future of the human race.

    At present there are more pensioners than those under 16yrs.

    My motto is live and let live, if children are being taken care of even if the family are on benefits then so be it, the children's welfare should be given priority, not do their parents receive benefits. Children are inocent in the creation of them so they should not suffer.

    Just my thoughts I understand others will think differently and they are entitled to do so.

    Take care and keep smiling, I did when I had my weigh-in on Monday.

    Janet x
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
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    Ummm, why is this a topic on a weight loss website? ... walking away too.

    Umm it's under chit chat, we can talk about whatever we like as long as it's within forum rules................are you new?
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    I absolutely do not think having children is a right. It is a privilege, one that comes with many responsibilities too few take into account.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    Agreeing with everyone else that I don't think this thread is going to end up all that good, but I'll give my view.

    I think if you can't afford to have them you should wait until you can, nobody should be having several kids and relying on the government to support their ever expanding brood. It should be your responsibility when you choose to have them, "can I really afford to pay for them, without any help?"
    However, there are some people out there who would genuinely make wonderful parents and would so love to have a child but know that they'll never be able to afford to fully raise one. (not just in the present time, but never) I really feel for those people, I'm not sure of the help parents in the US get, but in the UK everyone gets child benefit. I think that's great in that it will help some families who can afford to have a child, but would maybe be borderline, would be struggling alot financially without it. In some cases (those where the parents are stable and able to emotionally support a child to the full) they should have a right to a child. (not half a football team but a child)
    Then again, there is adoption/fostering for those cases, in which you get financial help without needing to create another life, but then I can understand the desire for a child that is your own biologically.
  • MFPAddict
    MFPAddict Posts: 2,303 Member
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    I think it is pointless to even bring up regulating it. It will never happen. Even if there were a way to do it, the government would screw it up.
  • lor007
    lor007 Posts: 884 Member
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    Some poor people are really excellent parents even though they have to be on welfare, and some really rich people are crappy parents and I don't think THEY should be having children.

    +1


    If only perfect people were allowed to procreate, none of us would be here.
  • Fitnin6280
    Fitnin6280 Posts: 618 Member
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    Who has that right to say? Personally, I would not want someone taking a look at my tax returns before I can have children... Really it is no one's business but mine. And really, I think it would be infringing on people's religious beliefs to say they could not have children.
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
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    Yes, having children is a right. However, just because we have the right to do something, doesn't always make it the right thing to do.

    .....and I think this is a good topic and we can discuss non-weight loss related topics in this section.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    I don't think this should or could ever be regulated. I do believe that the parents to be have responsibility in the matter. It is true that there are people only having more kids because they know they get more government support. That is not fair to the children. They will not have a loving home. There are people around the world in extreme poverty who do take care of their children. Money is not the only aspect of caring for a child. The emotional piece is so much larger than the financial one.
  • ceebs9
    ceebs9 Posts: 511 Member
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    Anyone ever read Margarette Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale"? Where certain women were forced to have children? I wouldn't want to be told either way, but I understand the OP's question. Interesting topic.
  • LauraMacNCheese
    LauraMacNCheese Posts: 7,198 Member
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    I have one word: Octo-Mom...and now look at her...the children are the ones who end up suffering.

    But what really grinds my gears is this...I am a single mom with 2 kids and because I have a job, I make TOO much money to get any kind of assistance; but I don't make enough to survive...I have to rely on my tax refund as a cushion every year...and that is WITH a pretty tight budget. Yet, if I quit my job & lived off the gov't, I'd have funds up the yin-yang!
  • staceyGO
    staceyGO Posts: 376
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    Children are not a right, they are a blessing... and I don't know why people have them so mindlessly. You have to be ready, emotionally, financially and physically to be less selfish and set that baby up to have the best life you can give it. They should not be treated as accessories, or be born because its the next step in life you feel you should take.

    Neglected babies are the saddest thing in the whole world. Please, please, please love them with every ounce of your being.
  • iAMaPhoenix
    iAMaPhoenix Posts: 1,038 Member
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    Ummm, why is this a topic on a weight loss website? ... walking away too.

    Umm it's under chit chat, we can talk about whatever we like as long as it's within forum rules................are you new?

    Have YOU read the forum rules? I'd say this is on the borderline of a political topic... But I guess the mods will have to make that call.

    Get outta here. If you don't like the topic, leave. There is nothing political about this and any MOD with an ounce of intelligence will see that. I guess that means you have already reported it though because you are bringing it up. So, I guess we should not be discussing anything except weight loss and healthy living on MFP. Who died and make you killer"Queen"? While this topic can be polarizing, the OP did say this is a hypothetical situation.

    My $0.02. I am absolute sure that if we polled everyone on her, most of our parents could not afford us when we were conceived, yet we are still here. Somehow, they found a way to make it with or without assistance. My mother had 8 kids, and not once did she receive a penny of assistance. She put herself through school and taught us that hard work is the way out of poverty. Yes, I remember the days of eating rice with butter, and was happy to have it. And think about it, if only rich people were allowed to have kids, all our Presidents last name would be Bush!!! IJS...
  • MFPAddict
    MFPAddict Posts: 2,303 Member
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    Although the OP did bring up the issue of affording children, I don't recall her or anyone else suggesting that having money in itself makes a good parent.

    There is no shortage of reality tv shows to prove that point.
  • MFPAddict
    MFPAddict Posts: 2,303 Member
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    And who made you queen of the forums? Seriously go find something better to read if you do not like debate.

    I'm sorry, last I checked any member could post here. *whoops*

    Why assert your right to post freely when you're demanding the entire topic be deleted? Does freedom only work for you and no one else?

    Excellent point.

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