Issodhos @aol.com wrote:

[...]

>     Actually, Alister, the philosophical question of why one's neighbors
>should be required to pay for the hospital costs of delivering one's baby
>aside,

Hard to put that aside, since Man is a social animal. One might just as
sensibly ask why parents should be expected to pay for the costs of raising
their own children.

> all economically productive citizens down under who pay taxes "pay out
>money for child birth"

If by "economically productive" you mean working class, as I assume you
must, then the working class don't pay tax, capitalists pay all taxes out
of surplus value.

Bill Bartlett
Bracknell Tas