Compulsory sterilization Essays

“Eugenics and Compulsory Sterilization Laws: Providing Redress for the Victims of a Shameful Era in United States History,” is an article by, Michael Silver, that addresses the issue of eugenics and involuntary sterilization laws. He specifically looked at the sterilization laws that were practiced in the 20th Century in the United States. Silver brings forth the argument that sterilization laws violate the constitutional rights of Americans of procreation and childrearing. Throughout the article

seemed to correspond with the goals of Nazi Germany. American eugenicists like Leon F. Whitney who was the secretary of the American Eugenics Society admired German’s sterilization laws. In 1934, he stated that eugenicists from England and America “have long been earnestly toward something very like what Hitler has now made compulsory.” It is clear that the American eugenics Movement in some ways, directly and indirectly, influenced the race policies of Germany. Although not as overt, there seems

of undesirable traits became especially prevalent after the advent of prenatal testing that allowed genetic abnormalities to be spotted before they became a problem in society (McChesney, 2006). The practice of eugenics allowed abuse of various sterilization methods in both men and women that provided the United States a unique and legal opportunity to target those that did not fit the image of a typical

1920 U.S.A Eugenics Eugenics: (Noun/Verb): The act of attempting the perfection of genes within a pre-existing population similar to that of selective breeding within a select species of mammals. During the Roaring Twenties of the United States a process of artificial selection arose known as the process of Eugenics. Eugenics is as stated, a process of elimination of the “Lesser” individuals to preserve traits that are thought highly of. During the latter 19th Century and the early 20th Century

first World War rather unscathed and was more concerned with the reproduction of those with distasteful traits in the lower social class. Examples of said perpetrators were prisoners and mental asylum patients. By imposing eugenic policies such as sterilization and isolation to segment the healthy individuals from those with inimical traits, society became healthier and more cohesive. Eugenics was a tremendously desirable phenomenon at the time, as it alleviated the issues of inferior social and political

Galton coined the term eugenics as “the science of improving stock” in 1883 (Wikler 184). Supporters of eugenics created a group of laws that forcibly prevented people with disabilities from reproducing through institutionalization, involuntary sterilization, and euthanasia (Wikler). Although the eugenics movement ended, recent debates over prenatal testing have revived the term. Prenatal testing refers to “all the technologies currently in use or under development to determine the physi(ologi)cal

The world has tried to continually, and in some instances, successfully fight injustice, inequality and discrimination brought about by slavery, colonization, and racism. The human race seems to still labor from yet another form of injustice and discrimination being championed by eugenics. Eugenics is defined by many scholars in similarly many ways, but for purposes of this paper, one definition shall suffice. Eugenics is “the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the

1983 the law was abolished. Sterilizing people does not stop the following generation from having physical or mental abnormalities nor does it prevent crime, using genetics to predict the mental state of future generations is not logical, and the sterilizations were unfair and inhumane. Based on the evidence, it was the correct decision to terminate the Oregon State Board of Eugenics. Arguments in Favor of the Oregon

Adolf Hitler once said, “Anyone who sees and paints a sky green and fields blue ought to be sterilized." While Hitler was ruling, he attempted to wipe out any people who were deemed undesirable and create a master race. Humans that were disabled, had mental disabilities, and did not have the right look were killed only leaving those who has desirable traits. This idea of weeding out the weak and only letting the strong repopulate is called eugenics. While Hitler caused this branch of science to fall

In the past, scientists, psychologist, and biologist have tried to discover ways to create the world in a way that is pleasurable to everyone. Soon, the term eugenics derived. Eugenics can be defined as a concept that allowed sterilization of individuals who were genetically “unfit” or “unwanted.” In some countries, this term was used as a way to eliminate human beings because they were not as superior as the others. With the terrible knowledge associated with this term, it vanished for centuries

Eugenics It was maybe four or five years ago that my youngest sister convinced my mother to take a DNA test proving her ancestry. We learned so much about what we already thought we knew and it was welcoming to see that we had such a culturally diversified heritage. In fact, millions of Americans today are a good blend of several ethnicities, so much so that it is almost an insult to claim the heritage of one race. With that in mind I turn back to the 1840’s, when Anglo-Saxons were in a conquest

The documentary War on the Weak: Eugenics in America discussed the eugenics movement in the United States. The movement pushed positive and negative eugenics in our society. “Positive eugenics” encouraged healthy people to reproduce in order to create a healthier population. “Negative eugenics” encouraged or forced people labeled as unhealthy to become sterilized. Although this movement happened quite some time ago, the beliefs of the movement can still be found in our scientific community and our

The impact of the inauguration of scientific beliefs and studies on eugenics in the 1800’s is still evident in modern United States today. Eugenics is defined as eugenicists promoting the naturally fit people who carried desirable traits to increase a population with hopes of a community filled with intelligent citizens. Positive eugenics advocated the superior people to marry each other and reproduce to create as many offsprings in order to increase the number of the fit. Negative eugenics would

In the next few pages I will cover some questions that were raised in regards to eugenics. I will describe what eugenics is, what policies were generated to create the ideal population, and also the differences between birth control and population factoring in the perspective of eugenics. We will ask about the similarities between the Nazi and the U. S eugenic policies, since eugenic was first started within the United States from early 1900 until World War II and was then implemented and passed

has the potential for good uses, such as eradicating diseases, there is a bad stigma attached to it that makes me support my new stance (Kevles 8). Kevles mentions that, “much more was done for negative eugenics, notably the passage of eugenic sterilization laws”, which blows my mind, that America, “a country of freedoms”, would allow for the

The main arguments that Davis Lennard has placed out for this introduction are the constructive views of normality versus disability. To summarize Lennard’s argument, he states that the majority of a population and/or society must be similar, to be recognized as “normal.” What is then “normal” is now seen as average, thus, creating a false illusion for one to “idealize” for something that is considered better than what is known as the average. And because we are constructed to have an ideal type

In theory, eugenics was the way to create a utopia. In just a couple of generations, the unintelligent, the sickly, and the weak could be eradicated from the earth, resulting in a better society. Eugenics wouldn’t be difficult either. For the eugenically favored person, all that was required of them was to marry and have children, which was no more than what was required of the average person anyway. Additionally, eugenics promised a society free of the feebleminded, the criminals, and the sickly

“pure” and “more fit for survival”. Different methods of implementing eugenics can be seen in different countries; Mexico conducted reforms in order to have healthier neighborhoods and in effect a healthier population (Schell, Patience). Peru used sterilization and regulated mate selection, along with identifying roles for men and women to keep them controlled, along with manipulating them (Necochea, Raúl). Africa showed how DNA can be edited to ‘create’ better people without disabilities or certain genetic

unjust to decide a person is not worthy of their human rights due to a condition they can not change. It is unjust to decide a human is not worthy of their human rights at all. No matter the disability, a human is always human. In many cases, sterilization is seen as extremely unfair because it denies future children the chance to succeed. Paul Lombardo of the University of Virginia went and found Carrie Buck. At the time she was reading the newspaper and doing a crossword. She showed no signs of

Many centuries later Sir Francis Galton would coin the term “eugenics.” His goal was like Plato’s, to improve human quality. Unlike Plato, however, his work became much more of a reality than The Republic. He also proposed similar aspects that Plato had more than two thousand years prior. He supported couples being paired and married by the government, and for the government to take care of the children’s education (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014). His rationale included that the idea was not new at all