Pubdate: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 1999 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4066
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Forum: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/
Author: Lisa Donovan

CARING AND CONTROVERSY
Founder Defends Program To Curb Births Of Drug-Addicted Babies

Barbara Harris has become, quite by accident, a missionary seeking to
prevent the births of drug-addicted children. Talk to her detractors
and they don't see her work as anything close to noble. The
47-year-old California mother is the founder of CRACK -- Children
Requiring a Caring Kommunity--and its controversial program that
dangles a $200 reward for any drug addict--woman or man--who agrees to
undergo sterilization or take long-term birth control.

Harris said the goal of the non-profit organization is simply to
provide an incentive for drug addicts to stop having children whom
they do not want, and more importantly, cannot care for.

In the wake of publicity about CRACK, which opened a Chicago chapter
in July--one of only a handful in the United States--a flood of calls
came in to the non-profit agency's toll-free line. The calls were
largely supportive, by many definitions, but Chicagoans by far have
been more critical, accusing Harris of eugenics and comparing her to
Hitler.

In the interview that follows, Harris talks about her controversial
program.

Q. How does someone who never intended to be an agent for social
change become the leader of a controversial movement that offers cash
to drug-addicted women who get their tubes tied or addicted men who
get vasectomies?

A. Well, my husband and I had had six sons and we decided at one point
we wanted a girl so we thought we would adopt. We got a girl at 8
months old, but when she was born she had crack, heroin and PCP in her
system. Four months after we got her, the social worker called, and
our daughter's biological mother had had another baby. A year later we
received a call and there was another. And a year after that there was
another one. I thought, "Why not keep them (the siblings) together."
We ended up adopting four out of eight drug-addicted babies from the
same woman. And I just got fed up about it all. I thought there must
be something we can do.

Q. So where did you get the cash-for-birth-control
idea?

A. Actually, C.R.A.C.K. wasn't founded on that program. I actually
started C.R.A.C.K. in 1994, outraged at my own experience that women
addicted to drugs could just keep having babies. And there was no
penalty for these women--only for society, which was paying for the
child's care and possibly the later consequences. So I and a
California assemblyman drew up legislation in 1995 which would make it
a crime to have drug-addicted babies. The woman would have a choice of
jail time or drug treatment. The most important part of the
legislation, however, was court-ordered mandatory long-term birth
control. Eventually, the legislation died.

Q. So what was your next move?

A. Well, there was some desperation, really. And then I thought `How
can you get an irresponsible drug addict to use birth control?' Money.
What motivates a drug addict? Money.

Q. And it was as simple as that -- you just scraped together some
money and started paying women to be sterilized?

A. Actually, I got a $400 donation from an attorney who works in
children's court out here in California--she sees these women coming
in with seven, eight, nine kids. I already had the idea and she gave
me the start-up money. In the beginning, I paid a lot out of my own
pocket for phone bills. But as we put up billboards and spread the
word, we started getting some donors. Dr. Laura Schlessinger gave us
$5,000.

Q. How old are the adopted children and are they aware their adoption
led you to this volunteer work?

A. The kids are 9, 7, 8 and 6. I think they know their mother was
addicted to drugs and couldn't care for them, and I think they have a
very limited understanding of my volunteer work. Look, if I thought
this whole thing would send us in to some kind of time warp and take
away my kids, whom I love, obviously I wouldn't be doing this. The
fact is, I love them, but there's not enough kids out there who are in
the same situation, who have someone else who can step in and take
care of them because their biological parents can't.

Q. And what do you say to those people who say this is unnatural
selection or selective breeding.

A. I'm just really fed up with that. These people have already had
numerous babies by the time they come to us--and that's another point,
they come to us.

Q. How about people who say you are cold-hearted about the women
themselves, how your agency and the program don't address the addicts'
problem: drugs.

A. We're already spending billions on drug treatment every year--those
people (critics) act like there's nothing being done for those people.
While they're fighting the battle to keep people off drugs, we can
make sure they don't have drug-addicted babies.

Q. Much of our discussion has centered on women--how much interest
have drug-addicted men shown?

A. Well, we've had plenty of inquiries from men. But once they find
out what they've got to do, we don't hear from them again.

Q. Have you ever had a drug problem or used illegal
drugs?

A. I've probably tried marijuana a couple of times, but sometimes I
wish I had been an addict so I could relate to people.

Q. You repeatedly say many people don't have a good understanding, a
good insight about the addict. What have you learned in taking calls
from women who inquire about the birth control program?

A. You know, I get really tired of hearing people say we're dealing
with women who don't know what they're doing when they agree to be
sterilized. So I talk with the women, ask them, "Do you ever have
moments in the day when you know what's going on? Because these other
people act like you totally don't know what's going on." And they just
laugh and say, "Yes, I know what's going on."

Q. You said you're not sure how it will evolve, in terms of
programming outside the cash for birth control, but what is the future
of C.R.A.C.K.?

A. We hope to become a nationally recognized organization with a
chapter in every major city, like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

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