(Buck v Bell) Forced Sterilization In The USA

Описание: In the early 20th century, a movement known as Eugenics convinced politicians and doctors that the best way to improve humanity was to stop undesirables from having children. To help accomplish this goal, thousands of women were sterilized against their will. In this episode we are going to tell you how this happened, and why it was completely legal.

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00:00 Introduction
00:44 The Birth Of Eugenics
03:08 Protecting Society
05:30 Carrie Buck
08:02 Law Of The Land
10:34 A Sign Of The Times
13:57 Conclusion

We begin by covering the life of Francis Galton, also known as the father of Eugenics. He was the one to propose that since traits are inheritable, those with undesirable traits shouldn't reproduce. This philosophy spread throughout Europe and the United States starting in 1883.

In 1910 Albert Sidney Priddy became the superintendent for the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics. It was supposed to only contain men, but this was expanded to include women as well. In 1916 alone he sterilized 80 women. In one case, he even kidnapped a man's wife while he was out of town and sterilized her. Even though the man sued Albert, nothing could be done.

On June 4th, 1924 Albert saw a new patient named Carrie Buck. Her mother was already a patient of Albert's. Also, Carrie recently had a child of wedlock. The pregnancy was due to an assault, but that didn't stop Albert from deciding that Carrie was mentally handicapped and should undergo forced sterilization. Even though it was technically legal, Albert decided that they would use Carrie as a legal test case. Eugenicists would represent both sides of the argument and would take the case all the way to the Supreme Court. That way, doctors wouldn't have to worry about being sued or imprisoned for removing the ability of women to have children.

In 1927 the US Supreme Court heard Carrie's case and decided that "three generations of imbeciles was enough". Carrie Buck was forcibly, and legally, sterilized. Over the next several decades, at least 70,000 women had their reproductive rights removed. Additionally, the US Eugenics movement inspired the Nazi Party in Germany to introduce similar laws. Thousands of handicapped people in Germany were also sterilized.

The legal authority to perform sterilizations was curtailed slightly in 1942 by the case Skinner v Oklahoma. Oklahoma tried to punish a criminal who had been convicted too many times with sterilization. The court found it couldn't be used as a punishment in this way. Doctors became more hesitant to use the produce on women. However, the last forced sterilization in the US took place in Oregon in 1981.

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