Licensing or Certification of Child-bearing

by Vivien Leitner

Voting, driving, giving legal advice, practicing medicine, hair cutting etc. etc.: all need certification attesting competence, maturity.

Adoptive parents are required to jump through hoops.

Biological parenting is viewed as a right. This is alright for plants and lower animals. For humans, should it not be an earned privilege? Should we not require proof of competence, maturity, economic security before allowing people to beget a child? The marriage license requires proof of age and, in come states, a blood test. Isn't raising a child a much more important undertaking than cohabiting?

The marriage license has obviously lost most of its prestige. Too often it is a license for the egregious display of conspicuous consumption. Could it be retooled to make it relevant again, by applying it to procreation?

Taxpayers are bankrolling the lack of libidinal control of irresponsible individuals, and the children are ultimately left holding the bag in foster home or on streets.

Failing that, we should meaningfully tax each child after the second or third, indexing the tax to inflation.