Birth-Control Group Wants L.A. Addicts in Program

A Stanton woman who pays drug addicts to use long-term birth control met with Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials Monday in hopes of using her controversial program in the county’s jails.

Barbara Harris spent nearly an hour with high-ranking officials from the department’s custody division to discuss her work. Harris, who has adopted four babies born to a drug user, has given $200 apiece to 45 female drug addicts, mostly from Los Angeles and Orange counties, to undergo sterilization or begin using birth control, such as Norplant implants.

Harris hopes to persuade the department to distribute information about her program to the thousands of inmates who pour through the county’s jails in the hopes they might take advantage of her offer upon release.

Sheriff’s officials downplayed the significance of the meeting, saying that dozens of community representatives meet each week with department officials to discuss their programs. But Monday morning’s conference, according to Harris, followed one a couple of weeks ago between Sheriff Lee Baca and a representative of Harris’ organization, CRACK (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity).

If Baca decides to work with Harris, the Sheriff’s Department would become the first public institution to embrace her program since its contentious launch in 1997. Any support would provide a political coup for Harris, as well as opportunities to reach an enormous population of potential clients.

“We might as well start at the top,” said Harris of her attempts to win the support of the department. “If they embrace our program, it’ll be easier to get others to embrace our program.”

About a quarter of a million inmates are shuttled each year through the county’s jail system, the largest in the country. An estimated 70% of those abuse drugs or alcohol, said Cmdr. Dennis Dahlman, who sat in on the meeting.

Though most of CRACK’s clients are from Southern California, Harris has taken her work nationwide. She said the program has awarded money to women in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New Hampshire, and has begun offering money to men who undergo a vasectomy.

Harris’ crusade to prevent children from being born into a drug-infested environment has drawn dramatically different reactions. Critics say the plan coerces poor woman into making an irreversible choice they may later regret.

“Women who are addicted are not in a good mind-set to be making life-altering decisions, such as getting sterilized,” said Jon Dunn, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties. “We would be concerned that what’s motivating them is the financial reward and not a concern for taking responsibility for their reproductive lives.”

Harris says she has scores of champions and has received worldwide attention and acclaim. She has raised thousands so far, including $5,000 from radio talk-show host Laura Schlessinger and $50,000 from an out-of-state businessman who wants to remain anonymous, she says.

One erstwhile supporter, albeit a brief one, was Baca’s predecessor, the late Sheriff Sherman Block. Block accepted an honorary membership from CRACK’s board, but quickly backpedaled when he learned more about its program, Harris said.

The recent meetings were arranged after Harris wrote to Baca, explaining the details of her program. Jeff Prang, one of Baca’s field deputies who also attended the meeting, said Harris suggested that the department distribute information about her program and possibly recommend it to inmates. Prang said the meeting allowed officials to learn more about the program but that a final decision on Harris’ proposals was a long way off.

Dahlman, commander of the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles, said he needed more time to think about what Harris had to say but did not rule out the possibility of the department working with her.

“I can’t talk for the sheriff, but it’s probably everyone’s wish to stop the birth of these drug babies,” he said.