DRUG-USING MOTHER IS OFFERED MONEY TO STOP HAVING BABIES

Child Advocates Say They'll Do What It Takes

A group that wants to reduce the number of babies born addicted to drugs
says it will use "any means necessary" to get a Pontiac woman to stop
having babies.

First, they're offering her $500.

Members of Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity -- CRACK -- attended a
hearing Friday to determine the parental rights of Rochelle Pennex, 33, to
nine of her children, five of whom had drugs in their bodies at birth. Her
youngest child died in April.

In addition to the cash offered Pennex, who has had 13 children, CRACK
would pay for long-term birth control, like Norplant or a tubal ligation.

The group usually offers just $200 to addicts and alcoholics.

"But this case is so horrible that we want to make her an offer she can't
refuse," said Pam Cade, who started Michigan's chapter of the group in
December.

Pennex, who refused a hospital's offer for a free tubal ligation when she
gave birth to Zaria Pennermon on April 4, did not show up at the hearing in
Oakland County Circuit Court. It was rescheduled for June 1. Her lawyer did
not return phone calls.

Pennex tested positive for cocaine when she gave birth to Zaria, two months
premature. The newborn, suffering severe medical problems, died April 18
after she was removed from life support. Autopsy tests to determine whether
she had drugs in her system have not been completed.

Nine of Pennex's other children, ages 2 to 14, were removed from their
father's care in March 2000 after social workers found them living in a
home with no plumbing.

Barbara Harris, a California resident who founded the birth control group,
said, "We will get this woman on birth control by any means necessary."

The group has enlisted a Pontiac police officer to find Pennex and extend
the offer, but Harris and others declined to outline their plans beyond
offering more money.

"If she says no, we'll up the ante," said Harris, whose organization has
paid 412 women and five men to get on birth control or have a vasectomy.

But Planned Parenthood is troubled.

"While we can hope that we can make an impact with education and resources,
the final decision is always in the hands of the individual woman," said
Robyn Menin, president of the Planned Parenthood Mid Michigan Alliance in
Ann Arbor.