> We estimate that these laws prevented fatalities of 57 children in car crashes in 2017 but reduced total births by 8,000 that year

These two options are not equivalent. I will take 8,000 3rd children not being born over 57 kids dying in car crashes every time.

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ryandrake a day ago | parent [-]

You’re getting downvoted, but a win is a win, and reduced birthrate/fertility is a huge and clear win on the planetary scale. Fewer people = less waste/pollution = smaller ecological impact = less competition over finite resources. If we find policies that reduce birthrates, we should always implement them.

	▲	Noumenon72 20 hours ago \| parent [-]
		This policy only reduces the birthrates of wealthy people who follow laws, so it's self-defeating, in that the future generations of poor people who don't care about laws also won't care about reducing their ecological impact.