The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune,

Following the public furore surrounding the tube tying of females by a certain MP and accusations of irresponsible breeding by a certain Reverend, perhaps it would be useful to take an objective view.

There is no question that a significant number of babies are born annually to mothers with insufficient resources, financial or otherwise. Many of these children go on to become poorly educated adults, trapping them in a cycle of poverty. It is simply a tragedy for all concerned.

Rather than excoriating them for their perceived shortcomings, a far better approach can be found in Colorado according to a report in the New York Times. Providing free long-term contraceptives to women resulted in dramatic declines in teenage births (down 40 per cent in the period 2009 to 2013), abortions (down 42 per cent in the same period), along with a similar decline in births to unwed mothers under 25 who had not completed a high school education.

Through the Department of Social Services, it should be simple enough to require females of bearing age to accept long term contraception as a condition for receiving the support of the state. The problem will not be resolved overnight, but the sooner we apply real solutions, the sooner the problem will become tractable with visible results in the overall improvement of our society. To do otherwise would perpetrate the tragedy into a travesty.

J G FARMER

Nassau

February 4, 2017