[Submitted] The Birds and the Plan Bs

[Electrum]

This is intended to be a short prequel for this issue I'm working on here, intended for nations which have recently enacted the one child policy but have also banned abortion. It is literally impossible to manage population sizes without abortion. I'd like to thank Trotterdam for the suggestion. I've decided to make this issue just two options long so they don't clash with the planned subsequent issue.

3rd draft

ISSUE: The Birds and the Plan Bs

[desc] It's been pointed out that the country's ban on abortions will make it difficult for families to abide by the one-child policy.
[validity] one-child policy (136.4, 638.4), should come as an immediate issue, has the abortion ban in place

[option]"The one-child policy is doomed to fail," declares eco-feminist Freida Kidds, while nursing her baby in a hessian sling. "How do you expect us to have only one child when you don't even give us the means to control our family sizes? It's not like we want to have more babies - one is already a huge hassle. Give Mother Earth a break from supporting more humans by legalising abortion."
[policy] removal of 'abortion ban' policy
[effect] construction of the @@CAPITAL@@ Abortionplex has commenced

[option] "Are you kidding me? This country has been built on wholesome, anti-abortion values," asserts @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, the leader of Blokes Against Reproductive Freedoms. "If legalising abortion is on the cards, then the one-child policy must go. It will be an about-face, sure, but it's never too late to admit a mistake. Indeed, I've made so many mistakes in my life that I can't remember all of their names off the top of my head! Anyways, the point is that I should be able to sow my seed far and wide without the government mandating how much love I can give to the world."
[effect] ratings for trashy talk shows that declare "You ARE the father!" have skyrocketed

[option] "Why don't you make it mandatory for parents to be sterilised after the first birth?" asks your niece, who is barely looking up from her screen while writing an essay on government policy for university. "That way, you can keep both the one child policy and the ban on abortion. I mean, goodness knows why you would want to keep both policies, but who am I to judge your leadership?"
[effect] couples often tie the knot after their first child

2nd draft

ISSUE: The Birds and the Plan Bs

[desc] It's been pointed out that the country's ban on abortions will make it difficult for families to abide by the one-child policy.
[validity] one-child policy (136.4, 638.4), should come as an immediate issue, has the abortion ban in place

[option]"The one-child policy is doomed to fail from the very beginning," declares eco-feminist Freida Kidds. "How do you expect us to have just one child when you don't give us the opportunity to abort! We don't want to have more babies - one is already a huge hassle. If you want to give Mother Earth a break from supporting a larger @@NAME@@, then you should legalise abortion."
[policy] removal of 'abortion ban' policy
[effect] parents refer to their child as limited edition

[option] "If getting rid of our country's anti-abortion values is the price of maintaining the one-child policy, then you should reverse the one-child policy," requests @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, the leader of Blokes Against Reproductive Freedoms. "It will be an about-face, sure, but it's never too late to admit a mistake. Indeed, I've made so many mistakes throughout my lifetime to the point that I can't remember all of their names. I should be able to sow my seed far and wide without the government mandating how much love I can give to the world."
[effect] construction of the @@CAPITAL@@ Abortionplex has been cancelled

[option] "Why don't you make it mandatory for parents to be sterilised after the first birth?" asks your niece, a straight-A student studying at the School of Government at @@CAPITAL@@ University. "That way, you can keep both the one child policy and the ban on abortion. I mean, goodness knows why on earth you would want to keep both policies, but who am I to judge your leadership?"
[effect] maternity wards are filled with the sounds of snipping

Submitted Jul 1
Accepted Jul 24

[Honeydewistania]

No abortionplexes!!!

[Trotterdam]

A contraceptive ban isn't technically a problem, since you can always just have an abortion after conceiving, even if it's inefficient. Legalizing contraception would save you a few trips to the abortion clinic, but that's also true in a nation without the one-child policy.

An abortion ban is a bigger hurdle, since generally by the time the government notices that a family is illegally attempting to have another child, it's too lated for forced contraception.

Besides, two options is too few for an issue like this, especially when neither of them actually maintains the status quo of having both policies (which, however silly it might seem, at least some players would presumably have done intentionally). Other option suggestions include:
* Sterilize parents after they've given birth once (as suggested by Australian Republic).
* It's not fair to harm innocents for a crime that isn't their own... so instead, execute the parents, which should have the same net effect on population as getting rid of their children.

[Australian rePublic]

What happens with twins?

[Trotterdam]

What happens with twins?

I figure natural twins are rare enough that allowing an exception to the one-child policy in that case wouldn't be a huge deal. I don't see that you have much choice.

[Honeydewistania]

What happens with twins?

A coin toss. Heads one baby gets aborted, tails the other.

[Trotterdam]

What happens with twins?

A coin toss. Heads one baby gets aborted, tails the other.

Abortion needs to be legal for that. The whole point here is that it isn't.

[Electrum]

A contraceptive ban isn't technically a problem, since you can always just have an abortion after conceiving, even if it's inefficient. Legalizing contraception would save you a few trips to the abortion clinic, but that's also true in a nation without the one-child policy.

An abortion ban is a bigger hurdle, since generally by the time the government notices that a family is illegally attempting to have another child, it's too lated for forced contraception.

Besides, two options is too few for an issue like this, especially when neither of them actually maintains the status quo of having both policies (which, however silly it might seem, at least some players would presumably have done intentionally). Other option suggestions include:
* Sterilize parents after they've given birth once (as suggested by Australian Republic).
* It's not fair to harm innocents for a crime that isn't their own... so instead, execute the parents, which should have the same net effect on population as getting rid of their children.

Alright, I've gotten rid of the contraceptive ban and added Aussie's sterilise suggestion. I think executing the parents is too extreme for something that is already solved by sterilising after the first birth.

[Australian rePublic]

What happens with twins?

A coin toss. Heads one baby gets aborted, tails the other.

What do you flip with triplets?

[Honeydewistania]

A coin toss. Heads one baby gets aborted, tails the other.

What do you flip with triplets?

A die obviously.

1-2 abort the first one, 3-4 the second one, 5-6 the third one

Might want to buy a D20 just in case

[Jutsa]

Hmm...
something something mumble "that still doesn't resolve the issue of excess children being born as we talk; but maybe we could be more productive and consider them noncitizens and put them into slave labor" gurgle

[Pythaga]

"If getting rid of the values that our nation holds dearly is the price for maintaining the one-child policy, then it's time to ditch it altogether," requests @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, the leader of Blokes Against Reproductive Freedoms. "It will be an about-face, sure, but it's never too late to admit a mistake. Indeed, I've made so many mistakes throughout my lifetime to the point that I can't remember all of their names. I should be able to sow my seed far and wide without the government mandating how much love I can give to the world."

I don't think that this option is worded very clearly, especially this section: "then it's time to ditch it altogether." My first time reading that I incorrectly thought that the speaker wanted to ditch @@NAME@@'s values in favor of the single child policy. I'd recommend rewriting it to make sure it's perfectly clear from the beginning what's going on.

[Electrum]

Hmm...
something something mumble "that still doesn't resolve the issue of excess children being born as we talk; but maybe we could be more productive and consider them noncitizens and put them into slave labor" gurgle

This is supposed to come immediately after enabling the one-child policy (with the two options I suggested above). The options that enable the one-child policy talk about selling the extraneous children to other nations or giving tax incentives for @@DEMONYM@@ to adopt the extra children.

I don't think that this option is worded very clearly, especially this section: "then it's time to ditch it altogether." My first time reading that I incorrectly thought that the speaker wanted to ditch @@NAME@@'s values in favor of the single child policy. I'd recommend rewriting it to make sure it's perfectly clear from the beginning what's going on.

Agree, will fix up on the wording.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

ISSUE: The Birds and the Plan Bs

[desc] It's been pointed out that the country's ban on abortions will make it difficult for families to abide by the one-child policy.

Good premise, good title.

[option]"The one-child policy is doomed to fail from the very beginning," declares eco-feminist Freida Kidds. "How do you expect us to have just one child when you don't give us the opportunity to abort! We don't want to have more babies - one is already a huge hassle. If you want to give Mother Earth a break from supporting a larger @@NAME@@, then you should legalise abortion."
[policy] removal of 'abortion ban' policy
[effect] parents refer to their child as limited edition

[option] "If getting rid of our country's anti-abortion values is the price of maintaining the one-child policy, then you should reverse the one-child policy," requests @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, the leader of Blokes Against Reproductive Freedoms. "It will be an about-face, sure, but it's never too late to admit a mistake. Indeed, I've made so many mistakes throughout my lifetime to the point that I can't remember all of their names. I should be able to sow my seed far and wide without the government mandating how much love I can give to the world."
[effect] construction of the @@CAPITAL@@ Abortionplex has been cancelled

Nice tries at effect lines here, though I'm not sure the second one rings true. I mean, if abortions were illegal, why would they have been constructing an Abortionplex?

Maybe instead the first option could read:

[effect] construction of the @@CAPITAL@@ Abortionplex has begun

and the second option could read:

[effect] the statement "you're my favourite child" is now more likely than ever to be a lie

[option] "Why don't you make it mandatory for parents to be sterilised after the first birth?" asks your niece, a straight-A student studying at the School of Government at @@CAPITAL@@ University. "That way, you can keep both the one child policy and the ban on abortion. I mean, goodness knows why on earth you would want to keep both policies, but who am I to judge your leadership?"
[effect] maternity wards are filled with the sounds of snipping

Nice option, though I'm not sure about the effect line.

Maybe:

[effect] couples often tie the knot after their first child.

Great issue overall though. TG me when its done, as I'd like to edit this one.

[Electrum]

I've made some changes and set this to last call

Thanks for the feedback Candlewhisper.