Jail time trade for birth control 'close to eugenics'
Writing in Inverse Science, Rafi Letzter reports that Tennessee judge Sam Benningfield is offering inmates in that state a 30-day jail time reduction if they undergo procedures for long-acting or permanent birth control. The judge told a local news channel that he hopes the procedures will "encourage them to take personal responsibility, and to give them a chance when they do get out not to be burdened again with additional children." Letzter wrote.
Faculty Associate Philip Cohen was quoted in the story: "“Without making too much of one crackpot judge, it does show a whole way of thinking about people who are considered undesirable by authorities or people in power: that if only they had fewer children they’d have fewer problems. In that sense it’s really like eugenics.”