AN INCENTIVE FOR DRUG-ADDICTED MOMS

Editor -- Although the article regarding birth-control cash incentives
for drug-addicted women (September 7) was interesting and provocative,
there are two important points that were not addressed.

First, the program is not ``paying women $200 to be sterilized.'' It
is giving women who do not wish to get pregnant a cash incentive to
choose whether they want a permanent sterilization or a long-term
contraceptive option that is fully reversible. Second, one must
remember that most drug-addicted women do not choose to get pregnant
over and over again.

They are unable to prevent this pattern due to the circumstances
around their addictive behavior.

How can we help these women to stop having babies, if this is their
wish? The incentive program seems to be one approach that could
empower women to exercise their right to reproductive choice.

Drug rehabilitation is clearly important, but for the women who do not
make it into recovery, a little extra nudge to help them carry out
their reproductive wishes seems to be an appropriate small step in
improving a large and complicated problem.

YVONNE W. WU, M.D.
Child Neurology