Addicted Individuals in N.Y. Offered Cash for Sterilization
The group Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity (Crack) is now doing
business in New York, offering individuals with drug addictions $200 to be
sterilized or put on long-term birth control.
The New York office of Crack is based in Brooklyn and consists of three
people who post fliers throughout the city and hold meetings with
hospitals and community groups. The stated goal of Crack is to prevent
children from being born to women unable to raise them.
Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn plans to
refer patients recovering in the psychiatric emergency room to Crack. At
Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, the director of chemical-dependency
services is reviewing Crack's program.
Dr. Attilio Rizzo Jr., a social worker in Brookdale's psychiatric
emergency room, called Crack "a godsend."»»
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"A lot of them are homeless and have H.I.V. and are on drugs and they
don't want to have any more babies," Rizzo said. "I believe it's up to the
individual to make that decision."
Crack, which was established in 1997, has chapters in several cities,
including San Francisco, Calif.; Detroit, Mich.; and Albuquerque, N.M.
Since its inception, 369 men and women have been sterilized through the
Crack program, and 464 have received long-term birth control.
Opponents of the group say it promotes selective breeding. "The program is
fundamentally incompatible with a healthcare policy that respects a
woman's right to choose," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the
New York Civil Liberties Union. "It certainly raises policy concerns for
government entities to be providing referrals to this program or endorsing
it in any way."
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