Population Control

Issue

   The world is overpopulated and the situation will become worse if no preventive measures are taken to correct the matter. This is a global problem that requires every nation to address the situation.

Euthanasia

   Euthanasia is the practice of allowing a terminally ill or gravely injured person to die humanely. Usually by lethal injection or halting medical treatments, but such procedures are meant to be conducted in a sympathetic and compassionate manner. Whether viewed as being ethical or not, allowing people to pass in a more dignified manner prevents further pain and suffering for those that are near their death.

   When nations are overpopulated to the point that it becomes detrimental to the nation's welfare, it may be beneficial to consider expanding euthanasia to also include those not in life-threatening situations as well. Such as including criminal behavior/history, physical/mental disabilities, elderly who can't function on their own, financially distressed of any age, etc.

   Expanding upon this practice to reduce the population may seem inhumane, however, if population levels continue to rise and become detrimental to the quality of life, extraordinary measures may be necessary to prevent a nation from collapsing due to its overpopulation situation.

Abortion

   The debate over abortion whether pro-choice (a woman’s right to abort the fetus), or pro-life (the child's life should be valued until natural death), may become irrelevant if nations become overpopulated to the point of near collapse. In which case, abortion will be forced upon all as a means of preventing the population from increasing any further.

   Until then, the alternative to abortion is to employ other measures such as forced sterilization at a young age (to prevent pregnancies), or develop the latest technology in artificial wombs (where the embryo is extracted and brought to full term in an incubator). Research for the latter is an ongoing process and some success has been made with animal development in recent years, but the technology is not there yet for human embryos. One estimate to also include human development is only 10-20 years away, and if achievable, would provide a viable solution for the abortion dilemma.

   When artificial wombs become available in the near future, another factor to consider is how to handle the number of children that will be raised by the program. In America, over one million abortions occur every year, which brings into question how to ensure adequate care for raising so many when they come to term. Orphanages are already at overcapacity and won't be able to handle the influx of over a million newborns arriving every year.

   One possible alternative, even though it may become unpopular, is that the nation may need to consider a forced adoption policy to handle the situation. Around 100,000 adoptions occur normally in the U.S. annually, which is only one tenth the number that will be raised with the artificial womb technology. So, a forced condition may be necessary for the nation to impose upon its population (much like a military draft).

   There are approximately sixty million married couples in America, less in the ideal age group of 20-50 yrs, that may adequately raise the newborn child into adulthood. That would result in roughly a 1-in-50 chance of being forced to raise another child for married couples every year. Those not selected, whether married or not, would be forced to pay for child support because it wouldn't be fair to impose upon couples to raise someone else's child who may not have the finances available to do so.

   So, in the near future, nations will need to decide whether to allow abortions, forcibly sterilize the population during adolescence (e.g., tubal ligation), or use artificial wombs with a forced adoption/child support policy.

Overpopulation

   The international community should consider overpopulation as a human rights violation since the quality of life is diminished to a certain degree. Because of this, the United Nations should impose a more restrictive policy towards nations that fail to address their overpopulation issue.

   Firstly, the global community will need to adopt a universally accepted means of measuring a nation's population that considers factors such as: (1) population growth rate and variance, (2) economic stability, (3) quality of life, (4) agriculture production, (5) geographical space, (6) death rate, (7) environmental waste/pollution, among others.

   Once a nation has been determined that it is unable to adequately support its population for the next generation or so, sanctions placed on the offending nation should encourage corrective action. If sanctions prove to be ineffective then the international community may declare that the nation is a human rights violator and a quarantine will be imposed. A quarantined nation will be isolated from others where travel would be restricted, trade halted, and other conditions imposed until the overpopulation situation is rectified.