# Tax-free state payment of $15k/£10k to get sterilized **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 28, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-free-state-payment-of-15k-10k-to-get-sterilized/614290 "2012-02-28T22:28:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![spankthecrumpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@spankthecrumpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankthecrumpet)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-free-state-payment-of-15k-10k-to-get-sterilized/614290/41 "2012-02-29T22:11:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Small government isn’t good, and governments don’t “fuck everything up” or automatically behave evilly. They are effective & generally trustworthy at some things, and terrible & untrustworthy at others. Choosing who is and isn’t allowed to breed happens to be one of the latter, as demonstrated by history. I don’t disagree with you that much; what I would say is that governments tend to behave evilly in proportion to how much a power/policy has potential for evil. Unfortunately, this power/policy has a great deal of potential for evil and so evil effects are guaranteed. Government no-smoking sign inspectors do not have too much potential to do evil. They have a bit of potential to be a nuisance though, and so they are. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-free-state-payment-of-15k-10k-to-get-sterilized/614290/42 "2012-02-29T23:40:30Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > When kids get older they pay taxes. You could make a case that someone who chooses not to have kids should pay more in taxes because they received a benefit that they are not going to pass on. There is not guarantee that a kid will grow up to be a responsible tax-paying adult. He or she could be born or become disabled or become a criminal that will have to be incarcerated at great expense. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-free-state-payment-of-15k-10k-to-get-sterilized/614290/43 "2012-02-29T23:43:52Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Who gets it, the poor? Surely those who are sterilized won’t have any family claim on it, who is left? The state. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-free-state-payment-of-15k-10k-to-get-sterilized/614290/44 "2012-02-29T23:47:20Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > There is not guarantee that a kid will grow up to be a responsible tax-paying adult. He or she could be born or become disabled or become a criminal that will have to be incarcerated at great expense. That’s pretty irrelevant to **sitchensis** ’s argument. People that don’t grow up to pay taxes probably aren’t worried about if its fair that the taxes they aren’t paying go to educate other peoples kids. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-free-state-payment-of-15k-10k-to-get-sterilized/614290/45 "2012-03-03T18:33:33Z")
I’d do this, but the payment would have to be much larger than $15,000. That’s only about 6 months of my income (maybe a bit more if it’s untaxed). At least $50k and I’d probably say yes. $100k or more and I’d definitely be in. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-free-state-payment-of-15k-10k-to-get-sterilized/614290/46 "2012-03-04T23:34:49Z")
Boy, this thread annoys me. People should be free to make their own reproductive choices. If you don’t want children, fine. If you want children, fine. In my opinion, this choice is one of our most basic human rights. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-free-state-payment-of-15k-10k-to-get-sterilized/614290.md?page=2)