The Irish standard., 1919-01-04
A Dangerous Extension
Of Eugenist Propaganda
Menace to Society and Morality In
volved in New PIans-The Weak
Basis of the Sterilization
Demands.

l ue ElSeillSl propaganda mas lOuHu
an exponent who is much more frank
than were many others who have ad-
vocated the eugenistic measure termed
sterilization by the operation of vasec-
tony. to be applied to criminals and
detectives who are wards of the state.
Hitherto the purpose pursued by The
prophets of sterilization was nominally
the prevention of pro-creation of GRIM
inals and interned detectives; now
comes Dr. Marie Slopes, who advo-
Gates in Sunday newspaper (see
"The Echo" Buffalo, issue Dec. 10,
1918, and "The New Witness" No.
134) "the sterilization of all potential
parents who are bodily or morally
hopelessly and irremediably diseased
and unfit" This request represents an
extension of the demands of eugenists,
reaching out beyond the bounds of
their earlier program; but in addition
to this extension DR.. Slopes submits
the startlingly frank avowal, that her
ultimate design is not to benefit the
race, but to facilitate deliberately
childless marriages. Every adult,
writes DR.. Slopes, ''has a right to
marriage; s. * * no individual has
the right to tax the community with
diseased children" Once this princi-
pie is admitted in the sense in which
it is advocated by DR.. Slopes, the va
lidity of her plan-of sterilization would
have to be recognized, and the barrier
standing between the individual and
the attainment of his improper desires
would be broken down. 20.
The ethical perversity of such po-
sition is apparent to all readers OF a
Catholic journal. 1t is interesting to
note, however, that even the legal
status of sterilization is far from be-
ing firmly established, that it's posi-
tion is highly questionable; and that
in spite of the fact that the law has
had to deal with this problem only in
one of it's phases, the application to
criminals and interned lunatics An
excellent treatise on the subject of
Sterilization of Criminals" was con-
tributed by w. A. S. to Law Notes
(Northport, New York; some months
ago, and printed in the July, 1918, is
sue of that journal. The author, who
rightly maintains that the theory of
heredity, upon which the application
of sterilization is based, is but the
ory, and that one barren of satisfactory
proof, states that the legal standing
of the matter is no less doubtful and
shaky than the theory. BY. way of
information he tells us that "lawsI1
authorizing the sterilization of lunaticsII
or criminals, or both, have been passed
in some twelve or more states; in||
California in 1916, 635 operations had
actually been performed under the
law-all but one on inmates of state
institutions for the insane The SUBJ
jects for treatment being selected from
among the hel lpless, there have been
but four cases reported dealing with
the validity Of such law, and in
three of them the law was declared to
be Invalid"
Thus even the legal status of the
measure advocated so ardently by the
Eugenists is, to put it mildly, highly
questionable. Besides, W. A. S. quotes
extensively from reports of investiga-
tions into this matter conducted I'M
der the auspices of the American In
stitute of Criminal Law and Grim
inology, which in 1913 appointed a
committee of well-known lawyers and
alienists, known as Committee F."
The committee reported in 1914, 1915,
1916 and 1917 Qatest report in Journal
of Criminal Law and Criminology, No
vember, 1910, the sum-total of their
findings being that "the doctors stick
firmly to their priori theories while
the lawyers investigate the evidence,
find it wanting, and demand further
evidence before they will pronounce a
judgment" The outcome of the inves-
tigation is a defeat for the advocates
of sterilization, who could not prove
their case. One member of the COM
mittee (Mr. Hart) "says that he has
no faith in sterilization as a remedy
in dealing with the problem of the
criminal" Another member, CDR.
Gordon), going back to first principles,
declares that it is first necessary to
, discover whether criminal tendencies
are inherited directly or not" Still
another CDR. Hunter), frankly states:
"The more l find out about it the
stronger my feelings become against
the sterilization of criminals as SUCH
And the consensus of the committee
was that it could not formulate salts
factory report until "a sufficient basis
of facts" had been established upon
which some definite action may be