Pointer

Our principal inquiry in this case is whether a woman convicted of the felony of child endangerment (Pen. Code, § 273a, subd. (1)) and found to be in violation of a custody decree (§ 278.5) may, as a condition of probation, be prohibited from conceiving a child. As a preliminary matter, we must also determine whether section 273a, subdivision (1), defines a specific intent crime.

I.

Appellant, Ruby Pointer, has at all material times been the devoted adherent of a rigorously disciplined macrobiotic diet. She is also the mother of two children, Jamal and Barron, who at the time of trial were, respectively, two and four years of age. Appellant imposed an elaborate macrobiotic regime on both children despite the objections of Barron’s father and despite the repeated advice of her physician, Dr. Gilbert Carter, that such diet was inappropriate and unhealthy for young children. Dr. Carter additionally advised appellant that breastfeeding Jamal while she was herself on a macrobiotic diet was hazardous for the infant.

In October 1980, more than a year prior to the trial, Barron’s father sought the assistance of Children’s Protective Services, a county agency that investigates…