We have to face the fact that there are people out there who are parents and who probably shouldn’t be. They may lack the intellectual, the emotional, or the psychological resources to raise children properly. Being a parent isn’t easy — it’s not for everyone, even though there are social pressures in society for everyone to have kids. Thus, the question isn’t so much whether some people should refrain from having kids or even should be encouraged to refrain from having kids. Instead, the question is whether the state should step in enforce such an ideal.
The first hurdle to a licensing scheme would be coming up with a means that would prevent people from having unapproved children, a hurdle which may not be as tough as it first appears. In one article, Roger McIntire describes a fictional scenario in which a drug can permanently prevent conception until an antidote is created. Such a product would be incredibly popular, but it would raise the question of control. The state could, for example, restrict access to the antidote. It wouldn’t take many steps to force everyone to take the contraceptive and keep the antidote out of the hands of any but those who passed a test.
Here, though, we come up against the larger hurdles that would inhibit the creation of a licensing system: what sorts of skills get tested, what sorts of standards will be enforced, and what sorts of tests will exist? This sounds at first like insurmountable hurdles until you remember that they already exist and are already enforced. People already accept the role of the state in deciding who does and does not deserve to be a parent when it comes to custody cases, foster care, and adoption. Roger McIntyre writes:
- “Can you imagine the public outcry that would occur if adoption agencies offered their children on a first-come-first-served basis, with no screening process for applicants? Imagine some drunk stumbling up and saying, “I’ll take that cute little blond-haired girl over there.””
We could also describe a similar scenario in the context of cloning human beings. Someday this will be possible, but do you really think that it will happen without state regulation? On the contrary, there will be all kinds of regulations. Those doing the cloning will have to ensure that they don’t create human beings who are sick or will be suffering from chronic pain. Cloners will have to provide good reasons for what they are doing — they won’t be allowed to create their own armies, for example, or clone for the sake of personal gratification.
In other words, we don’t permit irresponsible adoption and we wouldn’t permit the irresponsible creation of human life via cloning. Nevertheless, we do permit irresponsible parenthood and creation of life through natural means. Isn’t there a bit of a contradiction there? If people don’t have a right to adopt and don’t have a right to create life via cloning, why do we think that they have a right to create life via sexual reproduction? What is it about the creation of life that would qualify as a “right” in the first place? Surely it can’t be a “right” merely because it is a natural activity.
Even if it is a right, though, no right is absolute. Is there a right to have children who would suffer from serious, painful, and debilitating diseases? Is there a right to have children that is completely decoupled from your responsibility to properly and adequately raise it? These are all very good and interesting questions — questions that are addressed, even if not completely answered, by authors represented in the book.
The Bottom Line
The subject of licensing parents is more likely to attract outrage and derision than serious reflection or debate. This is understandable, but it’s also unfortunate. People have been procreating for millennia without government interference, so why should we start now? The age of a practice is not, however, an argument on behalf of its validity. Perhaps we can do better than our ancestors. Perhaps the arguments in favor of some licensing scheme are better than those against — but you’ll have to seriously listen to and reflect upon them first before you can reach that conclusion.
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