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Argument: Children of incest are a greater burden on society/taxpayers

Issue Report: Legalization of adult incest

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Shane Edwards. “Legalizing Incest: Less Libertarian, more Socialist Concerns”. The Politic. March 14, 2008 – There is the question of public health. As much as society seems to want to pretend there aren’t, the children’s health belie that idea. Sanctioning or destigmatizing incest will result in more unhealthy babies, more unhealthy children, and more unhealthy adults. In a day of socialized medicine, where everyone pays for other people’s unhealthy choices, these things need to be thought about. If medical care were private, then that would be one more reason, personally, not to get sexually involved with close relatives – you don’t want to get stuck with high medical bills for children resulting from it. But when it is public, then everyone pays for your bad decisions. (I know this could be applied to all kinds of unhealthy lifestyle choices – that perhaps is a subject for another post – the reality that in a universal health care state, the state has the right to intervene in its citizens’ lifestyle choices, because if you and I are paying the medical bills, we have the right to expect that the governing body will legislate to minimize health care costs. Interventionist, yes. Limiting to personal freedom, yes. That is the price you pay for taking from the government.)