We should have a quick check on the would-be parent's finances, to ensure that he can provide for the child. Why is it you need a licence to be a doctor, fireman, officer, translator, nurse, teacher, pharmacist, engineer, etc but NOT a parent? It is not just the child's life in one's hands, but also the welfare of the rest of society, which will be affected by the actions the child takes. Raising a drug addict criminal is equivalent to committing a crime against your country, to be honest. Parents should be held to a minimum standard of care to the country, to take due diligence that they do enough to give their children a healthy environment. If, despite that, the child turns bad, then it's not the parents' fault. But fucked-up trailer park drug/alcohol addict parents ought to be thrown into jail, their genes eliminated from the pool.
It's funny how when anything like this pops up, naysayers decry it as eugenics and equate it to Hitler's Holocaust.
Logical Fallacy 101: Hitler promoted Eugenics. Hitler is bad. Eugenics is bad.
Well, Hitler was a Roman Catholic. Hitler is bad. Roman Catholicism is bad?
Hitler was German. Hitler is bad. Germans are bad?
Surely I'm not advocating Huxley's Brave New World, but some degree of oversight over irresponsible parents ought to be put in place. The whole of society would be better off.
Incorrect Assumptions 101: For every child born there might be an Einstein. Therefore we should not stop even irresponsible parents from reproducing.
Argument predicated upon many assumptions - unlimited resources / living space on the planet, children who grow up to be evil criminals don't subtract from society, etc. All of which don't hold true.