Criminalizing Motherhood?: Who’s to Judge
Should a bad mother be prohibited from having more children?
Twenty year-old Felicia Salazar admitted to a court that she failed to provide protection and medical treatment for her 19-month-old daughter. The baby was beaten by her father and suffered broken bones and other injuries. She recovered and is in foster care. The father was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
But when Salazar—who had no previous criminal record—appeared for sentencing, Judge Charlie Baird gave her a suspended prison sentence and 10 years probation with what he called the “reasonable condition” not to conceive or bear any more children during that time.
“She has a fundamental right to reproduce,” said the judge, “so I couldn’t order her to be sterilized. But she can be forced to forfeit certain fundamental rights.” The judge added that he is “not even preventing her from having intimate sexual relations. I’m only preventing her from becoming pregnant.”
Legal experts questioned the constitutionality of the sentence, while others debated its enforceability. “If Salazar becomes pregnant,” asked a law writer, “must she choose among concealing the pregnancy, abortion, or incarceration? Alternately, could Judge Baird order her to carry a pregnancy to term but then give the child up for adoption?”
The prosecutor, who had not sought the sentence, was surprised. “I think when the average person hears a story of a mom who failed to protect a child,” she said, “their instinct is that she doesn’t deserve to have a child. But we don’t get to decide that for her.”
Tell us what you think: In an effort to prevent future child abuse, should the court be responsible for deciding if a mother can have more children? What about the father in this case—should he be under court order not to father more children?
Add Comment Share This
Comments
I like your thinking
Great idea, I like your thinking.
Christine Zurhellen | 1 year, 4 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
Freedom is what we stand for
People make mistakes and suffer horribly throughout their lives. Are we now saying this woman cannot learn and become a better parent as she goes along?
How dare our government take even more of our rights away! Yes, the Judge can sentence this lady to serve time in jail, pay fines and even do community service, but to say she cannot become pregnant makes me wonder if we have moved into some third world country where our leaders rule us and we have no more rights. We’ve already lost constitutional rights due to the terrorist attack in 2001. We have the Patriot Act where the law can come into our homes and search through our computers using the threat of terrorism as an excuse. We have government monitoring our sex lives, telling us who can and can’t get married….who can and can’t have abortions. Isn’t that enough? LESS government – not MORE.
People deserve second chances and even more. Life is hard.
Loral Orow | 1 year, 4 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
Less Goverment
Yes yes yes I totally agree w/you less government not more. I don’t think people are looking at the big picture here? Since it is such an emotional subject for a lot of us it is easy to go on emotions not fact. If we allow it to happen to one it can and will happen to many many more. Last time I looked, this was the U.S.A. not Iraq or wherever else government dictates what people do!!!!!
Newby1961 | 1 year, 4 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
He's a judge not God
Yes I believe the woman need some severe help in parenting but It is not up to a judge to order her not to have kids. He may want to make the suggestion to her. if we let one judge get away w/it how long before they all are doing it?
Newby1961 | 1 year, 4 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
what
I may be a little dense but what the heck is a“paper tiger sentence”?
Newby1961 | 1 year, 4 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
SORRY...BUT OHH WELL!!!
Loral…Do you really think it is worth the potential risk to an innocent child to find out if the woman has learned her lesson?
Newby…same question to you…Is it really worth the risk factor?
Okay…she gets pregnant..She does have that right…But to not immediately take the child away until a pattern of behavior can be established is just plain foolishness!!! Aren’t there enough hurt and abandoned children in this world already?
No…I do not think the Government should be able to tell a woman what to do with her body…So now we have more children for the state to take care of and we know from past experience that they do such a good job at that don’t they?!?!?!?
The child won’t even be able to be adopted out without the mothers approval…What really is an answer here that protects the children then? Any one with an answer better than the Judges…please let me know because we know that being a ward of the state would be such a darn good idea!!!
stacy gregory | 1 year, 3 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
Two problems
How do you gauge a “good parent”. What will the criteria for that be? I see a feeding frenzy for the lawyers! Also, the presumption in error is that these women would WELCOME BC….truth is that they usually WANT babies and kids….that is their source of love when living with an abusive man. They don’t report or seek medical treatment out of the fear of having the child taken away from them for not being able to stop HIM!
Karen Smith | 1 year, 3 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
Who's freedom?
Let me first state that I really don’t like anyone or any government telling me how to live my life and spend my hard-earned money! Next, I have to acknowledge that we need government and laws at all This keeps me from living every moment of my life in outrage at the restrictions on my personal freedoms and taking of my money to “do for others”. What I have learned from reading, watching and personally experiencing throughout my life about the human brain, emphatically stresses the necessity of governing laws for society. I believe that laws need to be “across the board” at the start and then given “per case” flexibility” as needed. And this will never be perfect at all times.
In regards to these to co-producing parents. What parenting were they doing? Sounds more like two big kids abusing a helpless sibling. Where does a parents rights stop and the rights of the child start? What about the rights of society to not have to pay for the intervention, repairs(medical attention to the child), prosecution of, incarceration of, and future monitoring of these irresponsible and abusive people. And let me state for the record that I came from and abusive dysfunctional family and that’s what I repeated when I had children. The most saving and helpful information I had to improve my parenting skills with was given to me by a lay-analyst who helped me save my life. When talking about the methods my mother used to change and control me and my dad didn’t intervene; I would say “she was doing it for my own good”. One day after recounting more experiences she said.. what right does a 150 lb. woman have to do that to a 60 lb. child? What is the line between parenting and bullying? What is the difference between parenting and power? How is responsible adult behavior different from juvenile behavior? Do you think it would be okay for you to terrorize someone helpless in your care? Do do you really think she was acting in your best interest? Then for the first time in my life I started to see things from a whole new perspective. And yet many years later imagine my horror when I discovered that my parenting abilities were no better. I worked and struggled through the years to figure out stuff and improve.
What I figured.. I had these kids freely and I am responsible for my for my choices and my freedom to chose. My rights were not more important than theirs. And while these kids were not “short adults” and did not respect my personal rights and freedoms..the golden rule still applied. I had to grow-up. to mature, to take responsibility and stick to the job. I did not go gently into that “cage”. But, if I want freedom of choice and to not have to pay for others..doesn’t that work both ways.
Yes people need second chances, but without guidelines and restrictions? Without determining that he/she truly understands the full impact of their behavior and the damage they have roughed on another person and society. Can society really afford to believe that sending such an adult out with a slap and instructions to not do that again will really work? I can really get on the side of “mandatory sterilization”. If society wants to run with “absolute free-will” we will disintegrate in “absolute chaos” because those willing to terrorize will overrun those who want only peace, harmony and free of choice.
The human brain is an imperfect and unbalanced tool by which humans run theirs lives and impact into others. The job is to protect as many a possible from as many as possible..and keep it as free as possible….darn right life is hard — and the human experience is the convoluted puzzle in the universe.. And so, we need standards, laws, accountability and “behavior modification” enforcement. I think of the human experience as “boot camp” for the soul..and it is truly awful a times..parents killing their kids…awful..audience watching without putting a stop to the act..awful.
Elizabeth Baer | 1 year, 2 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
Freedom is what we stand for
I never suggested we don’t need laws to live in a society. I don’t think the laws should include telling us we can’t have children, and many other things the lawmakers come up with to assure they have a job in the future.
I think a parenting class for all first time pregnancies should be mandatory – perhaps even before the baby is brought home from the hospital.
You’re right, Stacy, that children deserve to be protected. The state rushes in at a glance and grabs the children and then has no place to put them – usually putting them someplace much worse than where they come from. We need loving places to keep the children while the parents are being held, trained and can prove they’re going to be different. We need caregivers in these places to be trained as well until they can show they understand the whole picture.
Back in my day, a lot of children were abused terribly. Some went to mental hospitals to be cared for and many just disappeared with no explanation. They had no value.
Today we value our children but we also need to value our adults who probably did come from abusive homes themselves. WE DO WHAT WE LEARN.
I think compassion is a must for all of us if we truly want a better society – a better planet to live in. Let’s don’t just throw people away because they can’t control themselves well. Anger Management classes…12 step meetings……there is much that can be done other than what this judge has come up with. No one should agree to a judges right to mandate our bodies! It’s just another step to taking complete control without bothering to help anyone in the end!
Loral Orow | 1 year, 2 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
Children matter
It’s ambiguous, but parents should do everything to protect our children.
This parent didn’t, so I believe that the judge did what he could within our legal system. Hopefully, this mother will take parenting classes and/or early childhood classes so that, if she has more children, she will have the skill set to not only protect her child but be a better parent.
As to the abuser he should not be allowed to have more children for even longer than the mother. He should be mandated to parenting classes and early child education classes. Children are our future and we must protect them.
Anonymous | 1 year, 2 months ago
Add Comment | Post Reply
< 1 2 3 4 5 > Last » (6 pages)