Indeed, it has been concluded that
compulsory population-control laws,
even including laws requiring compulsory abortion
, could be
sustained under the existing Constitution
if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society.
It would even be possible to require pregnant single women to marry or have abortions
, perhaps as an alternative to placement for adoption, depending on the society.
Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods
is a suggestion
that seems to horrify people more than most proposals for involuntary fertility control. Indeed, this would pose some very difficult
political, legal, and social questions, to say nothing of the technical problems
. No such sterilant exists today, nor does one appear to be under development.
To be acceptable
, such a substance would have to meet some rather
stiff requirements
: it must be
uniformly effective
, despite widely varying doses received by individuals, and despite varying degrees of fertility and sensitivity among individuals; it must be
free of dangerous or unpleasant side effects
; and it must have no effect on members of the opposite ***, children, old people,
pets, or livestock
.