NEW ORLEANS — Roman Catholic Archbishop Alfred Hughes has denounced a lawmaker’s proposal to pay poor people to undergo sterilization as “an egregious affront to those targeted and blatantly anti-life.”
“Our lawmakers would do better to focus on policies that promote education and achievement to counteract poverty and the bigotry of low expectations, ” Hughes said in a statement Thursday.
Hughes spoke out in response to a proposal by state Rep. John Labruzzo, a Republican from suburban Metairie, to combat poverty by offering poor women and men $1,000 to undergo reproductive sterilization and vasectomies. In addition, the lawmaker said he is considering whether to propose tax incentives for college-educated people to have more children.