A Texas legislator has proposed that pregnant women considering abortion be offered $500 not to end their pregnancies.

Republican State Sen. Dan Patrick, who also is a conservative radio talk show host, said on Friday the money might convince the women to go ahead and have babies, then give them up for adoption.

He said during a legislative conference in New Braunfels, 45 miles south of Austin, there were 75,000 abortions in Texas last year.

“If this incentive would give pause and change the mind of 5 percent of those woman, that’s 3,000 lives. That’s almost as many people as we’ve lost in Iraq,” Patrick said.

Reuters

I am not going to poke fun at this guy because his heart is in the right place, but this is just an uber bad idea on a fiscal and moral ground. To begin with, nobody should be paid to have their baby. I really have to question the humanity of a woman who will place a $500 price tag on the life of her child. Not to mention what the psychological impact would be on that child as an adult if he ever found out the circumstances of his birth.

Additionally, the provisions of this law would render it ineffective anyway, in my opinion. This bill says that the money would be paid after the child is born and given to an adoption agency. This prevents fraud, but probably also defeats the purpose. I would think anyone shallow enough to participate in this program would probably want the money up front rather than after the birth. That, however, would open the door for fraud, so it’s a “Catch 22.”

Has our culture degraded this badly that this is what we now must resort to as a society?