TARGETING ADDICTS WITH BIRTH CONTROL

Program Tries To Prevent Drug-Addicted Babies.

This is how much Stephanie Sanders loved her foster son: She wants to make
sure no one like him is born ever again.

His name was Zachary and he was addicted to drugs from birth, forced to live
a life of failing health every day and doomed to a tragically early death
all because his mother abused drugs during her pregnancy, Sanders said.

That's why Sanders, a Fresno mother of six, is starting a Fresno chapter of
a Southern California-based program commited to paying drug-addicted women
if they embrace long-term or permanent birth control.

The program is called Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity and goes by the
blunt acronym of CRACK. Started two years ago in Anaheim by Barbara Harris,
CRACK pays drug-addicted women a one-time sum of $200 if they agree to a
long-term birth control procedure such as Norplant or Depo-Provera or a
permanent procedure such as a tubal ligation.

CRACK has a chapter up and running in Chicago. Fresno now has only the
second chapter outside of Anaheim largely because Sanders believes so
strongly in its mission that she recently asked Harris to bring CRACK to the
Valley.

Harris was in Fresno Monday to unveil the Fresno chapter.

Their ultimate goal has nothing to do with solving the immense problems
faced by women of child-bearing age suffering from substance abuse, CRACK
officials admit.

Instead, they said, the program's sole focus is preventing the birth of
children who, through no fault of their own, are delivered into a living
hell because their mothers abused drugs during pregnancy.

If they have to buy the women's reproductive choices, CRACK officials say,
then so be it. The end, they say, justifies the means in this case.

"I'm just outraged that everyone is so focused on a woman's reproductive
rights," Sanders said. "Fine, if she was only hurting herself, I could care
less how much drugs she does.

"But that's not just her body she's affecting, it's another human being. I
believe every child has a right to grow up loved and nurtured and living in
a healthy environment."

CRACK's Fresno chapter has received calls from three women seeking more
information about the program, Sanders said.

Others aren't so sure about CRACK's tactics.

No one wants to see children addicted to drugs from birth, said Vinh Ngo,
regional director of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte-Central California in
Fresno. Nor does anyone doubt these drug-addicted babies impose huge
economic costs on society, Ngo said.

"But coercion is not the answer, either," Ngo said. "And this $200 is a form
of coercion."

A woman's contraceptive decision must be voluntary, Ngo said. Yet, it is
unlikely a woman's decision about long-term or permanent birth control made
while suffering the ravages of substance abuse is entirely voluntary, he said.

A far better way to tackle this problem is helping the women recover, then
letting them make clear-headed decisions, Ngo said.

"Given the state of mind of this woman, she does not know the difference
between tubal ligation and Norplant," Ngo said. " We would like to see these
resources put into programs that are helping people turn their lives around."

Sanders said the CRACK program is available to women abusing alcohol as well
as street drugs such as crack. She said CRACK will advertise its presence in
the Fresno area with billboards throughout the community, including north
Fresno and Clovis.

Two billboards are already up, at Blackstone and Gettysburg avenues and at
Clovis and Olive avenues, she said.

Yet, in light of the organization's acronym, some critics say CRACK is aimed
largely at low income neighborhoods where most participants probably will be
minorities. "Genocide" has been mentioned by some critics, as Sanders
acknowledges.

But it's a charge that has no merit, Sanders said. She notes that of the 65
women who have signed onto the program nationwide, 27 are white, 26
African-American and 12 Hispanic.

Of these, 46 have chosen tubal ligation, nine opted for Norplant (capsules
inserted under the skin in the upper arm), eight for Depo-Provera (a shot
effective for three months) and two for an intrauterine device.

These 65 women totaled 472 pregnancies before entering the program, 175 of
them ending in abortion, according to CRACK.

The woman is responsible for getting the birth control procedure before she
gets the money. CRACK does not pay for or perform the birth control procedures.

"It doesn't bother me if they call us racist because my main focus is the
child and to stand up for the rights of a child," said Sanders, an
African-American.

Harris, CRACK's founder, learned about this tragedy when she became the
foster mother of a baby born addicted to drugs. She and her husband, Smitty,
took in three more drug-addicted infants over the next five years, all from
the same mother.

Harris tried to get the state government to pay drug-addicted women to go on
birth control but failed. So, she started CRACK, a nonprofit organization
funded through private contributions.

"We haven't found any place that doesn't need us," Harris said.

Sanders has six children, including three she adopted who were born addicted
to drugs. She also tried to adopt Zachary, but he died before the process
was completed.

On a wall in Sanders' CRACK office is a photograph of 3-year-old Zachary,
smiling and chubby-cheeked, at a birthday party. He died a few months later
and the total bill for his care during his brief life was $3.4 million,
Sanders said.

He never spent a day off a respirator, she said.

After Zachary's death, Sanders said she was motivated to contact Harris and
open a Fresno chapter of CRACK.