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Genetics and the Law III pp 227–248Cite as

Eugenic Sterilization in the United States

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Abstract

The most important event in the rise of state-supported programs to sterilize the feebleminded, the insane, and criminals was the rediscovery in about 1900 of Mendel’s breeding experiments. The elegant laws of inheritance were seductive, and a few influential scientists, convinced that even conditions such as pauperism were caused by defective germ plasm, rationalized eugenic programs.1 But by the close of the nineteenth century, the science of eugenics was already well established.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Boston City Hospital, 818 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA, 02118, USA

    Philip R. Reilly J.D., M.D.

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  1. Philip R. Reilly J.D., M.D.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Human Genetics, Boston University School of Medicine, 80 East Concord Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02118, USA

    Aubrey Milunsky MB.B.Ch., D.Sc., F.R.C.P, D.C.H. (Professor of Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Pathology, Director) (Professor of Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Pathology, Director)

  2. Health Law Section, Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, 80 East Concord Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02118, USA

    George J. Annas J.D., M.P.H. (Edward Utley Professor of Health Law Chief) (Edward Utley Professor of Health Law Chief)

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© 1985 Aubrey Milunsky and George J. Annas

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Reilly, P.R. (1985). Eugenic Sterilization in the United States. In: Milunsky, A., Annas, G.J. (eds) Genetics and the Law III. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4952-5_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4952-5_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-4954-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-4952-5

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