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| azzuri |
Give addicts contraception in methadone, says McNeilGive addicts contraception in methadone, says McNeilsee - http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/61856.html Heroin-addicted women should be pressured to take contraception with their treatment, according to a senior back-bench Labour MSP who argued yesterday they were not fit to be parents. Duncan McNeil, the member for Greenock and Inverclyde and convener of his party's parliamentary group, provoked strong criticism when he suggested the radical measure of putting contraception in methadone to tackle the problem of around 50,000 Scottish children who live with drug-abusing adults. John Scott, a leading human rights lawyer, said the idea had "hints of the agenda in Nazi Germany, with people getting sterilised". Neil McKeganey, a drugs expert at Glasgow University, said it was necessary to limit the rights of drug abusers to have children because of the harm their children face. Last year, he courted controversy by suggesting that drug-abusing women could be paid to be on contraception. Mr McNeil floated his methadone idea during a Holyrood debate about children at risk from drug abusers. He asked MSPs: "Why are we in a situation where so many of those who are addicted to drugs are having children?" He spoke of the dangers of HIV and Aids and went on: "There are dangers to the mother and child from a difficult pregnancy. As a first step, we need to explore putting some form of oral contraception in methadone, or using other methods. That way, we could reduce this problem and prevent some of those children coming to harm." Afterwards, he backed away from making this compulsory, saying the mixed contraceptive and methadone could be "strongly advised". "Can we say as a society that it's right for us to try to intervene and say it's not a good idea when you're living a chaotic lifestyle and on drugs to get pregnant because it could kill you, you could pass on HIV/Aids to your child, you are not fit to have a baby?" Susan Deacon, the former Labour health minister, had suggested earlier in the debate that addicted women should be offered the "informed choice" of long-term contraceptive injections, costing £90 each. An executive spokesman said Mr McNeil's idea was "not something we're likely to consider", while the opposition was scathing about it. Fiona Hyslop, SNP children's spokesman, said the idea was extreme, wrong and unworkable. "We need a serious, mature and rational debate about this issue, and these remarks are none of these things." Jeremy Purvis, for the Liberal Democrats, said the idea was bizarre, impractical and probably illegal, while Tommy Sheridan, of the Scottish Socialists, said it was "stupid, pathetic and ignorant of the real problems that exist in drug abuse". Annabel Goldie, Scottish Tory leader, said: "Anyone coming forward for assistance with their drug addiction needs positive help, not barriers put in their way. Contraceptive advice should be offered, available and indeed encouraged, but it cannot be made compulsory." Dr McKeganey, director of the centre for drug misuse research at Glasgow, said the case for contraception to reduce unwanted pregnancies was "the great unspoken" in the drugs debate. However, it was "a nettle that has to be grasped." Is this guy for real? Only a Labour MSP.... 
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| parkhead_rfb |
wouldnt have a problem with this as long as addicts were given neccecary information on contraception then left to choose and it wasnt enforced on them. in fact it would be a good idea if the first scenario were the case. | ||||||
| SLG |
Well, if an addict is seeing a doctor, I would have thought that they would already advise them that they should use contraception as it would be dangerous for them to get pregnant. I don't think anyone would have a problem with that. But forced consumption of contraception is quite different. | ||||||
| Babygael |
Ye cannae force contraceptives oan a person,only strongly advise the taking of them.
However,Ah cannae ferget wee Danielle who wae bashed tae death by yon monsters an' stuffed intae a suitcase.They wan' executin"! Best contraceptive aroon!! 
Pair wean naebody cared.Yon neighbours wuid see her wanderin aroon in her PJs ootside,naebody helped. Her silent pleas going unanswered. Her ain kith an' kin left her in alane wae yon deil's, an' yon social workers still happily collectin ther' pay. every time ah think o' that wee lassie ah feel sick!
BG |
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| Babygael |
This is for those wha dinnae ken aboot Danielle Reids murder.
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=716 |
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| Babygael |
C'mon, fall in love wi yer ain fowk!! Dinnae let this happen again!!
Stop yer coldness against yer ain people!! If this can happen against a wee wean,wha kind ae fowk are we?? Compassion is all, BG |
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| Aventinian |
Except where English people are concerned, of course... 
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| SLG |
Who's uncompassionate towards the English apart from their sporting representatives. I happen to believe that Independence for Scotland will have a beneficial effect on England. | ||||||
| Aventinian |
Well you'll notice I didn't aim that comment at you. | ||||||
| azzuri |
I'm astonished no one is going nuts about the comment that this Labour Minister made.
Is it only me that finds this whole thing totally abhorrent? |
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| Aventinian |
Well it's not exactly within my sphere of belief - I certainly wouldn't do it, but I don't consider it totally abhorrent either. I imagine it'd get support from a few pragmatists and anti-drugs sorts.
It's not really surprising given the sort of s**t that comes out of the Scottish Executive these days. |
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| SLG |
Fair enough. I though you were making a general point about wanting Scotland to be Independent requires a lack of compassion towards the English.
I think the reason there's not been an outcry is because the life of some babies born into families where there is drug abuse can also be abhorrent. As highlighted by a few recent high profile cases. Definitely not the way to solve the problem IMO, but I can see folk clutching at straws as to how to prevent such these cases from occurring.
McNeil is a back bench Labour member, and I understand that his comments have not been supported by any Executive minister. But anyway, you say 'these days'... are you implying that there was once a day where 'this sort of s**t' didn't come out of the Executive? 
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| Aventinian |
Fair point - when it didn't exist, I suppose! They've got too much spare time on their hands. Slash their wages by 50% and have them in part time. Better yet, keep paying them and get them to do out and help sweep the streets. |
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| SLG |
Or better yet, get rid of the worst of them, elect in those who are more capable. Then give them a parliament with full powers with which to manage the country more effectively than is done at present. |
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| Babygael |
Nonsense! 
BG |
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| Wolf of Badenoch |
A`ll be honest here,a dinnae find it abhorrent ataw but i widnae say its the road tae gang doon,trying tae find a way roond it is like gangin roon in circles,yer heroin adict couldnae gie a toss aboot onything apairt fae whaur the next fix is coming frae,ive worked wi plenty o them an thaur bairns an seen whit it does tae the wee yins.Trying tae find a solution is hard but gaun doon yon road isnae the answer. |
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| Morph |
maybe a society where people feel they can help would be better. Whos to say that if these people had taken the little girl in and foned social services that something would have been done. The best way is not to stop these addicts having children but by creating a strong and well resourced social service department equipped to dealing with cases which are appear in a modern Scottish society. With a better track record public confidence may be restored, resulting in less of these tradgic cases, such as Danielle's occuring. | ||||||
| Aventinian |
Ah, but even today social services are heard of to be interfering with the lives of perfectly decent citizens. There is a balance that must be struck. Even if they aren't taking children, law abiding citizens do not like being 'investigated' or what have you and the entire system relies on popular support. | ||||||