(“Common Walls” - Sunfish Grove) 0:00

Lauren Toy 0:09

Welcome back to Playing Godcast. We are your hosts, Lauren Toy and

Rhea Singh 0:15

Rhea Singh.

Lauren Toy 0:15

Last episode, we discussed the history of Canadian eugenics and looked at the story of Leilani Muir. If you missed it, or need a reminder, you can find that episode on our website, playinggodcast.ca.

Rhea Singh 0:32

In this episode, we'll be taking a look at the history of Eugenics in the United States and a case of coerced sterilization relating to eugenics. We hope you find this episode insightful here on Playing Godcast.

(“Common Walls” - Sunfish Grove) 0:47

Lauren Toy 1:01

We mentioned in the first episode that the United States of America had eugenic policies, but did you know that they were actually the leading country in the eugenics movement?

Rhea Singh 1:13

In the early 1900s, the station for Experimental Evolution was established in Cold Spring Harbour, New York. This became a major location for eugenics research in America. In 1903, the American Breeders Association was founded and later became the first American organization to support eugenic research.

Lauren Toy 1:38

At the request of Charles Davenport, the American Breeders Association Eugenics Committee was established in 1906. By 1914, the American Breeders Association became the American Genetic Association.

Rhea Singh 1:55

Charles Davenport is considered the most important eugenicist in the United States. He was an outspoken racist who believed that traits like intelligence had strict hereditary connections. He used the Eugenics Committee to study his idea of selected and restricted breeding in humans and promote future organization efforts.

Lauren Toy 2:19

In 1907, Indiana became the first state to pass a sterilization law, which mandated that individuals in state institutions who were considered "idiots" or "imbeciles" and certain types of criminals be sterilized under this law. Women who were deemed "feeble-minded" or "promiscuous" were also sterilized. This was because state officials were convinced that social issues such as crime and poverty were inherited genetically.

Rhea Singh 2:54

In 1910, Charles Davenport started the Eugenics Record Office. The Eugenics Record Office collected family data to identify hereditary defects, which influenced public policy. It was later directed by Harry H Laughlin.

Lauren Toy 3:12

In 1921, the American Museum of Natural History held the second International Eugenics Congress in New York. It was sponsored by the Eugenics Record Office, and immigration issues were the most discussed topic. Harry H Laughlin and Charles Davenport used their findings to argue that European immigrants were inferior and their birth rates were a threat to the Nordic races.

Rhea Singh 3:42

Immigration was a key political issue in the United States in the early 20th century; most immigrants came from non-English-speaking countries. Laughlin was especially interested in furthering eugenics through National Immigration and Naturalization policy.

Lauren Toy 4:00

In 1922, he was designated as the Expert Eugenics Agent to the House Committee on immigration and Naturalization. Under his guidance, the committee recommended that Congress pass the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act in 1924

Rhea Singh 4:20

The Act reduced immigration for all countries to low levels. In particular, the immigration of Eastern and Southern Europeans slowed down and completely ended for immigrants from Asia. Laughlin believed that individuals from these nations were unfit, insane and had inherent criminality.

Lauren Toy 4:46

However, immigration from Northern and Western European countries was favoured based on eugenic ideas of racial hierarchy earlier that year, 1924, Virginia. Passed the Racial Integrity Act as well as the Eugenical Sterilization Act.

Rhea Singh 5:05

The Racial Integrity Act divided the American population into two races: "white" or "colored" individuals who had only Caucasian blood were defined as "white." This act prevented interracial marriage, to protect "whiteness," to obtain a marriage license, both individuals must prove they were of the same race.

Lauren Toy 5:31

A major case of Sexual Sterilization that made it to the United States Supreme Court was Buck v. Bell in 1927. The case resulted in an eight-to-one vote that determined it was in the best interest of the Commonwealth to move forward with the sterilization of 18-year-old Carrie Buck.

Rhea Singh 5:53

Carrie Buck was a young woman who had been raped by a relative and given birth to a child in a very conservative community. As a result, she was sent to the State colony and deemed feeble-minded due to the history of mental illness in her family; she was forced to be sterilized.

Lauren Toy 6:13

According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes stated the majority opinion, saying quote, "It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. Three generations of imbeciles are enough" unquote.

Rhea Singh 6:49

By 1935, over 30 states had sterilization laws in effect that were based on Harry Laughlin's beliefs. Over 10s of 1000s of individuals were sterilized, with California being the leading state in these procedures. The population of individuals sterilized consisted of people who are poor, disabled, institutionalized or "colored."

Lauren Toy 7:14

It wasn't until World War II approached that eugenics began to lose credibility because they saw another country, Germany, implementing eugenic policies and committing genocide against minority groups.

Rhea Singh 7:31

After seeing these realities play out, they realized that their policies were wrong; therefore, eugenics started to become more unpopular across the country.

Lauren Toy 7:41

In 1939, Vannevar Bush, the president of the Carnegie Institution, cut funding to the Eugenics Record Office, and it closed in December of that year.

Rhea Singh 7:54

Decades after World War Two, the states with sexual legislation laws began to repeal them. In 1983, Oregon was the last state to repeal its sterilization law.

Lauren Toy 8:06

Now that we have looked over some of the history of Eugenics, let's look at a specific case.

Rhea Singh 8:13

A particular case of coerced sterilization was Madrigal v. Quilligan, which occurred in the 1970s. This case primarily involved women who mainly spoke Spanish. Hospital staff would continuously approach women to consent to sterilization while they were in labour.

Lauren Toy 8:34

A medical student testified that she believed the medical center was doing this in an effort to reduce the birth rate of racial minorities. She recounted what she saw, stating quote, "The doctor would hold a syringe in front of the mother who was in labour pain and ask her if she wanted a painkiller. While the woman was in the throes of a contraction, the doctor would say, 'Do you want the painkiller? Then sign the papers. Do you want the pain to stop? Do you want to have to go through this again? Sign the papers.'" Unquote.

Rhea Singh 9:09

This case demonstrated how eugenic policies were enforced through coerced sterilizations. Although eugenic policies are no longer in effect, eugenic ideas are still present in the United States today. In fact, there is another case of sterilization that mirrors the 1970 Madridal v. Quilligan case.

Lauren Toy 9:38

In 2020, allegations surfaced that a government-funded and for-profit Immigration and Customs Enforcement, aka ICE, detention center was performing forced sterilization procedures on immigrant women. Dawn Wooten, a nurse, described multiple forms of medical abuse, from failure to protect patients against COVID-19 to forced hysterectomies.

Rhea Singh 10:05

Dawn stated, quote "These immigrant women, I don't think they really totally all the way, understand what this is, what's going to happen, depending on who explains it to them." Unquote. One immigrant detained reported that the procedure she was meant to have was never properly explained.

Lauren Toy 10:26

She stated that when she asked what the procedure was and why she was supposed to have it, she was given three different responses by three different individuals.

Rhea Singh 10:37

This demonstrates how autonomy is taken away from these women without the proper knowledge, understanding and clarity. There is no freely given informed consent.

Lauren Toy 10:49

Despite sterilization laws no longer being in effect today, these allegations prompt us to wonder what might happen outside of the public eye, especially if this is occurring in a government-funded facility.

Rhea Singh 11:02

Situations like this show us that it's important to look back at the history of Eugenics to see how these policies and procedures still have impacts on society today, which we will be discussing in the next episode.

Lauren Toy 11:18

If you're interested in learning more about the history of Eugenics in the United States, we've included a link to the Eugenics Archive on our website, and if you're interested in learning more about Carrie Buck and eugenics in Virginia, we've also added a link that provides additional information, which includes a timeline of Carrie Buck's history and an interview between host Sarah McConnell and guest Dr Paul Lombardo from the radio show With Good Reason.

Rhea Singh 11:50

Thank you for listening to the third episode of Playing Godcast. We hope this episode has informed you about the history of Eugenics in the United States and sparked your curiosity to learn more about other cases of eugenics in American history and present-day examples.

(“Them Highs and Lows” - Birds of Figment) 12:08

Lauren Toy 12:13

In the next episode, we will examine where eugenics appears in society today and discuss some recently debated cases involving eugenic ideology.

Rhea Singh 12:24

If you're interested and want to learn more, our website, plaingodcast.ca, has additional resources that is, p l a y I n g g o d c a s t .ca, with no spaces and all lowercase letters.

Lauren Toy 12:44

We hope you tune in for the next episode of Playing Godcast. And remember, like genes, ideas evolve, but it's up to us to decide which ones survive.

(“Them Highs and Lows” - Birds of Figment) 12:56