Woman tours US offering drug, alcohol addicts $300 to undergo vasectomies

A woman activist is touring the US to promote long-term birth control for people addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Barbara Harris, founder of the non-profit Project Prevention, has herself adopted four drug-dependent babies and says her goal is to reduce the burden on addicts, social workers and the tax system, reports the Toronto Sun.

“The women made a choice to use drugs. The children did not make that choice,” Harris said as cited by WSPA local news.

“The people who come out the loudest are not willing to adopt these children. They want to campaign for a women’s right to keep procreating, but if you ask them to adopt a drug-addicted baby, no, they wouldn’t,” she added.

Harris provides cash incentives of up to $300 to addicts who are willing to undergo more permanent birth control procedures such as installing IUDs or having vasectomies carried out by healthcare professionals.

Opiate use during pregnancy can result in drug withdrawal symptoms being transferred to newborn babies – neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). In 2012 alone, an estimated 21,732 babies in the US were born with NAS, a 5-fold increase since 2000 according to figures from the National Institute on Drug Abuse website.

While Harris tours the US in her RV, she does not perform any procedures herself. Instead, she asks those who agree to the measures to produce paperwork from the medical center where they underwent the surgeries before she hands over the cash. 

“Nothing positive comes to a woman who has eight babies that are taken away from her,” Harris added.