GIVE ADDICTS CONTRACEPTION IN METHADONE, SAYS MCNEIL

Heroin-addicted women should be pressured to take contraception with
their treatment, according to a senior back-bench Labour MSP who
argued yesterday they were not fit to be parents.

Duncan McNeil, the member for Greenock and Inverclyde and convener of
his party's parliamentary group, provoked strong criticism when he
suggested the radical measure of putting contraception in methadone to
tackle the problem of around 50,000 Scottish children who live with
drug-abusing adults.

John Scott, a leading human rights lawyer, said the idea had "hints of
the agenda in Nazi Germany, with people getting sterilised". Neil
McKeganey, a drugs expert at Glasgow University, said it was necessary
to limit the rights of drug abusers to have children because of the
harm their children face. Last year, he courted controversy by
suggesting that drug-abusing women could be paid to be on
contraception.

Mr McNeil floated his methadone idea during a Holyrood debate about children
at risk from drug abusers. He asked MSPs: "Why are we in a situation where
so many of those who are addicted to drugs are having children?"

He spoke of the dangers of HIV and Aids and went on: "There are
dangers to the mother and child from a difficult pregnancy. As a first
step, we need to explore putting some form of oral contraception in
methadone, or using other methods. That way, we could reduce this
problem and prevent some of those children coming to harm."

Afterwards, he backed away from making this compulsory, saying the
mixed contraceptive and methadone could be "strongly advised".

"Can we say as a society that it's right for us to try to intervene
and say it's not a good idea when you're living a chaotic lifestyle
and on drugs to get pregnant because it could kill you, you could pass
on HIV/Aids to your child, you are not fit to have a baby?"

Susan Deacon, the former Labour health minister, had suggested earlier
in the debate that addicted women should be offered the "informed
choice" of long-term contraceptive injections, costing ?90 each.

An executive spokesman said Mr McNeil's idea was "not something we're
likely to consider", while the opposition was scathing about it.

Fiona Hyslop, SNP children's spokesman, said the idea was extreme,
wrong and unworkable. "We need a serious, mature and rational debate
about this issue, and these remarks are none of these things."

Jeremy Purvis, for the Liberal Democrats, said the idea was bizarre,
impractical and probably illegal, while Tommy Sheridan, of the
Scottish Socialists, said it was "stupid, pathetic and ignorant of the
real problems that exist in drug abuse".

Annabel Goldie, Scottish Tory leader, said: "Anyone coming forward for
assistance with their drug addiction needs positive help, not barriers
put in their way. Contraceptive advice should be offered, available
and indeed encouraged, but it cannot be made compulsory."

Dr McKeganey, director of the centre for drug misuse research at
Glasgow, said the case for contraception to reduce unwanted
pregnancies was "the great unspoken" in the drugs debate. However, it
was "a nettle that has to be grasped."