How much power should the Government have to control fertility?

I believe that a government should have some control over the fertility rate of a country depending on the situation. If a country is failing to keep up with the rapidly increasing population, then I do believe that a government should take control. A country that has done this would be China. I do believe that China did the right thing to limit the number of births to one child, but I don’t think that it’s right to force people to get abortions and sterilise them to keep the birth rates low. It is said that the reason why China implemented the one-child policy was that the world was becoming overpopulated. So out of all the countries in the world China “Took one for the team” and decided to reduce the number of births within the country. This is where I agree with what China’s Government has done as it is an action that benefits everyone on this planet.

However, I strongly disagree with the harsh punishments that were put into place just so that they can reduce the population. I think that it is inhumane to force someone to get an abortion or sterilise their citizens. People have the right to choose how many kids they have. Now some may say “If the Government didn’t force abortions or sterilise them, then people will still have the incentive to produce more babies”, I agree with the statement, but I believe that fining citizens more and strongly enforcing this fine across the country will do enough. In the end, China’s efforts were successful in reducing the population and if they didn’t take all these courses of action, China’s population may still be growing at a rapid rate.

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One thought on “How much power should the Government have to control fertility?

  • October 5, 2017 at 12:50 pm
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    Thanks for your post Dylan. I feel like your views sit a little awkwardly here. On the one hand you think China has the right to enforce population control, but you disagree with their methods. Heavier fines might have resulted in families starving to death .. is that more ethical than a forced abortion?
    Are there other examples of countries with enforced policies? were these more or less acceptable? check out http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30040790.

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