As to the poll, I'm taking the word "okay" to mean permissible. If okay means recommended, then I would revote.

Most people don't think before they bang, and that is an issue. But far be it from me or anyone else to have direct control over others actions.

I'll say this about you Darsh, you stick to your beliefs pretty highly, and I respect that. Kinda tough skinned, huh?

This is a hard question to answer, even more so when you get down to a personal level. I think the big problem with people having children that they can't provide for is that they don't *know* they can't provide for them. Unless you've had to financially support another person in your life beforehand, how would you even know how to do it? There's no transition phase between having to support a child and not worrying about anyone but yourself - I'd imagine the shock of having another mouth to feed would come as a surprise to just about anyone. Children aren't like rent or utilities, they're unpredictable and dynamic, and even with some knowledge on how to handle them, you never know what could come up.

This means, unless you have sound financial planning or someone else to guide you, you essentially have to feel your way into having a family. *We* would see someone being "irresponsible" for having a child they can't pay for, while *they* thought they could handle it with whatever salary they were pulling down at the time. What could be perceived as a lack of foresight could have just been an honest mistake brought about by poor planning.

But children aren't meant to be mistakes. There is a certain mindset that a person must be in before they have a child, and part of that includes how much weight the baby will have on their lives. Having a baby is a drastically life-altering process, not only because of the money, but because you now have someone else in your life you have to put above yourself, and do things for even if it in encroaches on your way of living. It's a kind of selfless attitude that some people just aren't ready for, but *when* they're ready depends entirely on the person. This is something no government can regulate, or no other person can dictate - it needs to come from the mind of the person having the child. In this regard, I guess I'll have to go for the first choice: we can't tell people if they can or can't have a child, it's simply not our place to say.

Anyway, I don't have kids or anything, I'm just giving my opinion as I see it from the outside.

I put my unrelated responses in spoilers so the poll wouldnt have biased context for the reader and I feel that the poll wont really lean to a particular side since it still seems about 50/50, give or take 2 or 3 votes that will prolly balance itself out, not to mention that there is no right or wrong answer (yay, everyone wins!), because this is just some personal opinions and thoughts.

I think rules we learned when we were younger all revolved around responsibility; get your work done, be fair to others, be considerate etc. If you arent able to raise a child, and it falls into the custody of the state, or if you are not able to give your child the necesarry items or you harm the child by keeping them unhealthy (which wouldnt be the individuals/cpuples business anymore, but someone elses at this point), then actions should be taken to not mandate "morality", but responsibility.
Of course not all unplanned births lead to this kind degree, even some unexpected parents make great moms and dads, but this kind of abuse and degrading of life happens, and I feel that it could be prevented.


also, forcing a person to get sterile is another argument