A photo from open sources
Rally of victims of forced sterilization in North Carolina, 1971 Photo: southernstudies.org
North Carolina authorities ordered to pay multi-million dollar compensation to state residents in the early and mid XX centuries affected by the policy of forced sterilization. Opportunities to have children were deprived of them in accordance with the then popular the doctrine of maintaining the purity of the gene pool of the population. However, Eugenics in the USA was carried away far not only in North Carolina – The victims of this theory are tens of thousands of Americans.
North Carolina has become just one of more than 30 American states whose authorities have decided to seriously engage in population breeding for the sake of preserving his health. The origins of the eugenic movement in the USA date back to the second half of the XIX century, when the country began to there are more and more scientists, doctors and politicians, strongly believing that the spread of “defective” genes should put an end to. They, in particular, feared that all who could not were called “normal”, posed a great threat to future nation. Because of such individuals, supporters believed eugenics, society can eventually degenerate.
Directly on legislation, eugenic sentiments began influence in the last decade of the 19th century. It was originally almost exclusively about restrictive measures that should have apply to “inferior” members of the community. Usually these measures were divided into two main categories: marriage ban and imprisonment. In both cases, the purpose of the restrictions there was isolation of the “inferior” from the rest of society and their deprivation opportunities to leave offspring.
First U.S. Law Regarding Citizens’ Right to Conclusion A marriage is considered an act passed in 1895 in Connecticut. Under the action of the document included people defined in it as “epileptics, imbeciles and dementia.” If it was about women, then the restrictions applied only to those under the age of 45 – it was believed that starting from this age the female body almost completely lost the ability to reproduce.
However, as such a prohibition to enter into marital relations in the law was not contained. Moreover, the document still provided the possibility of cohabiting “second-rate” people, but only with the permission of the guardians. Otherwise, the bride and groom simply refused to issue a marriage certificate. If trapped in Blacklist citizens still managed to get married, they were threatened a prison term of up to three years. Those who helped them circumvent the law, could be imprisoned for five years, and also receive a fine in thousand dollars.
Similar laws were passed in subsequent years in many other states. Basically they mentioned the same categories of citizens as in Connecticut, but there were some differences. For example, in Georgia and a number of other state restrictions were placed on idiots and crazy, “and laws passed in Indiana and Ohio dealt with including “heavy drinkers.” In rare cases, “forbidden” categories were determined on the basis of not medical, but social signs. So, the Delaware authorities did not allow marriages between the poor, and the law in Virginia forbade white people to create families with representatives other races.
The procedural nuances could differ from each other. IN Nebraska to better combat illegal marriages of power in advance created registers of “defective” citizens. Do it to them helped the norm, which obliged school workers, hospitals and others public institutions to report suspected dementia. IN New Hampshire, on the other hand, was allowed second-rate marriages if its participants were sterilized.
Along the way in many states for unwanted items special institutions were created. In fact, they were psychiatric hospitals and a kind of colony for people with mental and, less often, physical defects. However, the definitions dementia and other abnormalities were so vague that under those who were just extravagant habits. An exit condition from such establishments is often sterilization was getting the same, and especially actively patients of these institutions were subjected to similar operations with the beginning The Great Depression of 1929: a sharp decline in financial state capabilities coincided with an increase in the number of patients.
However, sterilization as a method of controlling unwanted genes was used not only as a necessary measure for unloading colonies for the mentally ill. Deprivation laws in a number of states “second-rate” people the ability to leave offspring was taken as independent acts based on eugenic research.
The first state where sterilization got legislative foundation, became Indiana: an act was passed in 1907 year. Moreover, some researchers claim that this the law was the first of its kind in the whole world. His “target audience “idiots and imbeciles, and recidivists and rapists. Later, in 1927, the effect of the law was somewhat narrowed: now the law spread only crazy, demented and epileptic. Sterilization in the state applied to these groups until approximately 1974. For this about 2.5 thousand were deprived of the time to leave offspring human.
A photo from open sources
Virginia resident Carrie Buck, who challenged the authorities’ decision to her sterilization. Photo: Wikipedia
As is the case with the restriction of marriages, in general, the subject of laws on forced sterilization, adopted in more than 30 states, were approximately the same categories of citizens, which could be conditionally divided into two groups. The first of them included people who were recognized as genetically defective based solely on medical signs. The already mentioned ones were included in it. crazy, demented, epileptics, imbeciles and idiots.
The second group consisted of socially recognized citizens. unreliable; while their deviant behavior was considered the result of bad heredity. On the one hand, they were criminals, on the other hand, are people who are diagnosed various kinds of sexual disorders. To them, in particular, ranked homosexuals as well as women recognized intemperate and illegible when choosing sexual partners. In addition, the poor were included in this category, among which sometimes there were representatives of racial minorities.
In general, if you look at the statistics, more often sterilization it was women who were exposed. Especially high proportion of sterilized women were among African Americans; one of the most active campaigns against them was fought in North Carolina. The authorities considered that black women are less capable of natural inclinations control their sex life, which, in their opinion, led to uncontrolled expansion of black families. Sterilizing them besides authorities pursued eugenic goals and financial goals, reducing base of potential applicants for social benefits. Similar the policy was carried out regarding native american population.
Throughout its existence, a policy based on eugenics was carried out exclusively at the state level. Not less in 1927 the genetically sterilized movement “defective” people received a powerful impetus in the form of support with parties to the US Supreme Court. His decree approved by eight against one, it was adopted following the consideration of the claim Virginia Carrie Buck challenge the decision of the authorities to force sterilization.
Carrie Buck’s surgery was decided based on the fact that she, like her mother, was considered mentally retarded. Moreover, justifying the need to operate it, doctors pointed out that, not being married, the girl gave birth to a child. Later, however, it turned out that she was the victim of rape by relative, however disclosing this fact to a final decision not affected. On the contrary, her child was also mentally recognized retarded.
Among other things, the Supreme Court ruling said: “Better give society the opportunity to restrict the rights of those who are clearly not suitable for procreation than to wait for them degenerative offspring will end up in the dock or die with starvation because of its imbecility. “From myself, the chairman of the court Oliver Wendell Holmes added: “Enough we already have three generations of imbeciles. ”
Widespread practice of sterilizing people “not suitable” for birth of children, existed until about the mid-1960s, when a critical number of votes was gained against eugenics. However, in some states, her supporters continued to be influential and afterwards. So, in Montana, operations were done until 1972, in North Carolina and Indiana – until 1973 and 1974, and in Virginia and Oregon – until 1979 and 1983, respectively.
The largest number of operations was done in California: for 1909-1964 more than 20 lost the opportunity to have children there thousands of people. Unlike most other states, where eugenic laws existed, there was no California act There is a mechanism to challenge the decisions of medical commissions. In addition, according to some reports, based on the request of the guardians they could also sterilize those people who were not considered “abnormal.” In second place with a large lag is North Carolina with eight thousand sterilized (1929-1973), Virginia is on the third line – more than 7.3 thousand operated between 1924 and 1979.
In total from surgery, an excuse served by eugenics, in the United States in the XX century suffered at least 60 thousands of people. Most often a vasectomy was applied to men, women undergoing salpingectomy, dressing or excision fallopian tubes and sometimes hysterectomy. In rare cases, patients altogether deprived of the gonads: men were castrated, and women were made oophorectomy.
Ultimately, the practice of forced sterilization to protecting society from “harmful” genes has been universally recognized unethical, and the authorities of several states have already brought victims apologies. As for operations, they are carried out now, however, the reason for surgery can only be patient requests or medical indications.
Valentin Makov
In addition to the United States, extensive eugenics programs in the 20th century conducted by the countries of Fennoscandia, Canada, and Nazi Germany. About 60 thousand sterilized in Sweden from 1935 to 1976 women recognized as mentally disabled. In Denmark in 1929-1967 In years, a similar procedure was applied to 11 thousand people. In Norway and Finland, about a thousand were deprived of the opportunity to give birth women. In the Canadian province of Alberta in the years 1928-1972, physicians About three thousand women were sterilized. The greatest damage to the population Eugenic program brought to his country, since 1934 conducted by the Nazis in Germany. Until the fall of the NSDAP regime About 400 thousand women lost the opportunity to give birth. Also with 1939, approximately 200 thousand people were exposed euthanasia.
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