The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-16
PUBLIC OPINION

To the Editor:-
 | A bill ssconcerning the appointment and duties of school physieians'' in this state will be heard before 8 spe- cial committee at Hartford on March 17th.
 This bill, in effect, first compe1s the appointment in each city, town or dis trict of more than ten thousand inhab- itants of one or more school physi- clans The local board of education. etc, shall also "nx the salaroies of such school physicians and shall pro- vide them with proper and sufficient facilities for the performance of their duties''
 The bill provides, also, for the estab- Mshment of the same inspection sys- tenn in communities of less than ten thousand inhabitants.
 ! The bill continues:
 "A11 such school inspection shall, however, be carried on in accordance with the rules and regulations pre- scrtbed by the State Board of Health ] with the State Board of Education and be subject to the requirements and penalties provided in this act.''
 And in Section 3.
 ..The State Board of Health in con sultatton with the State Board of Ed- the medical Inspectors of schools and nurses appointed under this act and establish rules and regulations rela- 1 tive to the conduct of the same. z It may be seen therefore, in short, that the bill provides that the local communities throughout the State shall appoint a large number Of school l physicians end nurses; and that these physicians and nurses shall be guided and governed without limit by the State Board of Health and the State Board of Education.
 r What then E7r4 may ask will be inc intent and purpose of this medical o1i- garchy, and the scope of it's work2
 The following will throw some light ion this subject It is q comment upon House Bill No. 86, which was recently reported unfavorab1y by the commit tee, and of which tie bill cited above is a substitute. It plainly indicates the intent of medical legislation. | The bill provides for a wholesale land a practically continuous physical scrutiny and examination of the school lchf1dren of Connecticut. The first in-l lspection by the school doctor occurs when the child enters he school at the beginning Of the year. If he is discovered to be 14backward,' he will lrecetve Special attention ,ss which means subsequent and, frequent inql1i- sttion. After passing the entrance ex- andnatfon every pupil. including those in the high schools, may expect to be inspected and looked over by the
 
 fcorrect defects any deformtties as ear I1y as spossible," the inference being Ethat the 'icorrectfon'' of defects is just another name for compulsory treat I1nent.
 School children shall also be ssexana- I ined and carefully tested at least once in every school year. z and if they are Hound suffering from defective sight or fheaFing or from any other physical debility, their parents shall be noti- filed with such advice or order as the medical autocraf of the school may deem advfsable.'' Treatment ac- icording to al1opathic methods will be iTecomn ended at free dispensaries. As if all this was not enough, re-examin- alton in the homes. by nurses, may be lnade. When the doctor feels like it, Tor to use the language of the bd1I 4 'swhen the symptoms justify tests 1shan be made of the children's blood, Esputum and throat, specimens of which Eshan be submitted to the state 1abora- itory.
 I Noth4ng is left to the imagination in the phrasing of this bill! It is a frank admission that a forcfbIe Bodily con tro1 of children is to be undertaken by l that school of the medical profession (which is represented in the person of the school doctor.
 How the mothers and fathers will 1 relish eEh1s paterna1istdc oversight of the children, how they will enjoy the Econstant medical surveillance and ex- amination of their offspring how they Twin welcome the fear and the anxiety that may follow in the minds of their Echildren the disquisitions on disease all these are questions that remain to be decided.
 The child will becone the property of the state under the compulsory espion- laEe of medical inspectors which is proposed in this act, individual liberty will become a myth if medical autoc- racy may thus usurp the parental right and take absolute control of the children Of the country, even going so far as to inva1e the home. It is safe to say nothing quite so arbitrary and sweeping as this bill has ever been ventured by the medical profession in lany legislature in the coutnry. The into1erant dfotat1on embodied in this measure Is opposed to all the funda- l menta1s Of democracy and should nev- CT be permitted to become the law Of I IConneet1c1t.
 CITIZEN