Motherhood should be a choice. The Trump Administration doesn't think so
Such meddling is an old problem: Plato imagined the state controlling procreation — his goal was to produce better offspring through eugenic breeding of human beings. His student, Aristotle, suggested that deformed children should not be allowed to live and that abortion could be required in the interest of population control.
Opinion
If those ancient proposals sound appalling to modern ears, that's because we typically embrace sexual and reproductive freedom. We want to be able to choose who we have sex with, as well as whether and when we reproduce.
Freedom of choice for mothers is a relatively new development: For most of human history, motherhood was under patriarchal control.
The innovations of the modern world have changed all of that. During the past 200 years, the human population has boomed from 1 billion to 8 billion people. At the same time, sexual and reproductive freedom were unleashed. Better birth control technology allows for sex without reproduction. Liberal divorce laws, the demise of the stigma against unwed mothering and LGBTQ rights have changed the cultural paradigm.
We are still sorting out the implications of these changes. And the culture war about motherhood is not yet over.
The rapid increase in population has led some to worry about the carrying capacity of the earth. Those concerns are exacerbated by climate change, immigration crises and ongoing social and political turmoil. A growing population may make these things worse.
But some folks are now worrying about declining populations in developed countries such as the U.S. global population will likely continue to grow to above 10 billion people in the next 50 years. But in those parts of the world where sexual and procreative freedom are firmly established, birth rates are falling below replacement levels.
These declining birth rates have prompted the Trump administration to advance a pro-natal agenda. At the annual March for Life in January of this year, Vice President J.D. Vance said, 'I want more babies in the United States of America.' At the same time, Vance criticized 'a culture of radical individualism.'
Vance invokes a broad critique of those modern developments that include women's liberation, the sexual revolution and abortion rights. He is concerned that people are enjoying their freedom while ignoring what he called 'the joys of family life.'
The pro-natal agenda has led the Trump administration to consider policies to promote childbirth, including a $5,000 incentive for making babies. In support of the idea, one conservative commentator, Michael Knowles, has encouraged Americans to get busy making babies. In a YouTube video, Knowles said, 'Close your eyes and think of America. Do your patriotic duty. Make America great again. You gotta have babies. OK? It's your marital duty. It's your patriotic duty…. Close your eyes and think of America, and maybe you get five thousand bucks.'
Critics have pointed out that $5,000 is hardly enough to support motherhood in an economy that includes high costs for health care, childcare and housing. Libertarians and feminists alike may also wonder whether it is a good idea to view procreation as a patriotic and marital duty.
We should be nervous when government officials start meddling with sex and the family. The government can offer incentives and support for families and children without becoming coercive, but the slippery slope of governmental coercion is an ancient problem we ought to avoid. And to suggest we close our eyes and make babies as a patriotic duty is truly bizarre.
If motherhood is an important good, it should be chosen with eyes wide open, for its own sake and not because of some political program. Vance is right about the joys of family life: Loving families are wonderful. But reproduction is not the only joy that matters.
In a world with more than 8 billion people, it might be appropriate to have fewer kids. More importantly, in a free country, we must be allowed to pursue familial joy on our own terms.
Andrew Fiala is the interim department chair of Fresno State University's Department of Philosophy.
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