Twenty-one US states enacted eugenic sterilization laws between 1907 and 1928

Evidence

Genetical deficiency, manifested in crime and idiocy, became - following the scientists’ lobbying or advice - the legitimate reason for compulsory sterilization in the states of Indiana, New Jersey, and Iowa (where the state law covered “criminals, rapists, idiots, feeble-minded, imbeciles, lunatics, drunkards, drug fiends, epileptics, syphilitics, moral and sexual perverts, and diseased and degenerate persons”). Altogether 21 states of the USA enacted eugenic sterilization laws between 1907 and 1928 (Chorover 1979:42). Quite recently, after decades of silence and whitewashing, we have heard of the policy of compulsive sterilization conducted (by right-wing and left-wing governments alike) for many years (and well after the defeat of Nazi Germany) towards the “inferior,” “unreliable,” and otherwise undesirable categories of the population. This was revealed thanks to the curiosity and dedication of one investigative journalist. How many other dark secrets still wait for their discoverers? — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 419

Genetical deficiency, manifested in crime and idiocy, became - following the scientists’ lobbying or advice - the legitimate reason for compulsory sterilization in the states of Indiana, New Jersey, and Iowa (where the state law covered “criminals, rapists, idiots, feeble-minded, imbeciles, lunatics, drunkards, drug fiends, epileptics, syphilitics, moral and sexual perverts, and diseased and degenerate persons”). Altogether 21 states of the USA enacted eugenic sterilization laws between 1907 and 1928 (Chorover 1979:42). — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 419

Categorization

• QUESTION: The claim that compulsory sterilization continued well after 1945 toward ‘undesirable’ populations invites chasing which countries and programs this investigative journalist revealed.
• SHARE: The full list of covered categories in Indiana/New Jersey/Iowa laws is a darkly specific tidbit for anyone studying eugenics history.
• XREF: Connects to Daniel Kevles’ ‘In the Name of Eugenics’ and the broader literature on scientific racism legitimating state violence. — connects to: Indiana pioneered state sterilization in 1907 and many states followed — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4288; Thirty-two states funded forced sterilization well into the twentieth century — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 161
• CANDY: The staggeringly broad list of Iowa’s sterilization targets is a grimly memeable historical detail.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 419