Indiana pioneered state sterilization in 1907 and many states followed

Evidence

The best strategy, apparently, was to give up on defectives and make sure they had no chance to breed more of their ilk. In 1907, Indiana passed a pioneer sterilization law. The idea was to stop “confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles and rapists” from carrying their rot on to new generations. An inmate at the Indiana State Prison, Eddie Millard, complained to the governor, in 1909, that, based on his record, the medical superintendent of the prison had “clipped the cords” of both of his testicles. Millard was one of 119 men who were sterilized at that institution in fiscal 1907–​1908.20 Many states followed with their own sterilization laws, in the rush to “clip the cords” of the unworthy. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4288

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Twenty-one US states enacted eugenic sterilization laws between 1907 and 1928 — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 419; American eugenic sterilization laws preceded and outlasted Nazi-era ones; Thirty-two states funded forced sterilization well into the twentieth century — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 161

Broader Connections

• Twenty-one US states enacted eugenic sterilization laws between 1907 and 1928 #corroborates (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 419
• American eugenic sterilization laws preceded and outlasted Nazi-era ones #expands (0.80)