Imagine a single woman with two young kids, dependent on government assistance, and scarred by a drug-addiction. Determined to curve her addiction and mentally be there for her children, she seeks out a drug treatment program, but is turned away because she is pregnant and most of all because she is on Medicaid. Overburden by the tribulations of poverty and raising her children alone, she resorted to drug-use after giving birth to her second child, to numb the pain of everyday stress. Unwilling to abort, but aware of the economic strain this third child would bring, she vows to seek out a birth control method that would permanently end her ability to reproduce and bring another child into her poverty-stricken life. Desperate for change, a billboard advertisement pronouncing "If You Use Drugs, Get Birth Control, Get $200 Cash," seems welcoming and a perfect way to get birth control and a little extra money to feed her children or her drug-habit.
About 375,000 drug-exposed babies are born yearly (Walker A-1). Due to the numerous drug-exposed children, who as a result of their parents" addictions suffer from health problems and/or are placed into the foster care system, Project Prevention, the umbrella organization for Children Requiring A Caring Kommunity (lovingly known as CRACK), feels it is their duty "to reduce the number of drug and alcohol related pregnancies to zero" through encouraging the sterilization of drug-addicted women and men (www.cashforbirthcontrol.com). With the history of forced sterilization on the poor and people of color still festering in their minds, it is not surprising communities of color and community activists strongly oppose the CRACK program. People of color view CRACK's intentions as a form of racial genocide supported by notions of eugenics and population control. Along with these two opposing views on sterilization's place in contemporary society, an analysis of CRACK is also deeply rooted in women's ability to willingly reproduce or not.
