About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

13 J. Contemp. Health L. & Pol'y 1 (1996-1997)
Medicine, Eugenics, and the Supreme Court: From Coercive Sterilization to Reproductive Freedom

handle is hein.journals/jchlp13 and id is 35 raw text is: ARTICLES MEDICINE, EUGENICS, AND THE SUPREME COURT: FROM COERCIVE STERILIZATION TO REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM* Paul A. Lombardo** I. INTRODUCTION The idea that the human race can be gradually improved and social ills simultaneously eliminated through a program of selective procreation was widely accepted through the first third of the twentieth century. The term applied to this seductive notion was eugenics, and it gave rise to a movement that found adherents throughout American society. Every president from Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Hoover was a member of a eugenics organization, publicly endorsed eugenic laws, or signed eu- genic legislation without voicing opposition.' The most powerful vehicle of the eugenic ideology was the law. If we evaluate the eugenicists on their legislative accomplishments, and calcu- late the number of people affected by eugenical laws, their success must be considered extraordinary. Between 1900 and 1970, proponents of eugenic theory drafted and en- dorsed nearly one hundred statutes that were adopted by state legisla- tures.2 Most of this legislation focused on limiting the reproductive rights * An earlier version of this paper was presented in the History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series, University of Virginia, November 17, 1994. ** Ph.D., J.D., Associate Professor of the General Faculty of the School of Law and Director, Center for Mental Health Law, Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, University of Virginia. 1. See, e.g., ALLAN CHASE, THE LEGACY OF MALTHIUS: THE SOCIAL COSTS OF THE NEW SCIETwIC RACISM 15, 19-20, 126 (1977); MARK H. HALLER, EUGENICS: HEREDITARIAN ATrITUDES IN AMERICAN THOUGHT 155-56 (1963); JAMES W. TRENT, JR., INVENTING THE FEEBLE MIND: A HISTORY OF MENTAL RETARDATION IN THE UNITED STATES 173, 292 n.3 (1994). 2. See HALLER, supra note 1, at 142 (stating that 30 state eugenic sterilization laws

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most