Eugenic Legislation 



143 



born after a parent was insane. Michij^an 

 and New Jersey demand the 'cure' of 

 defectives before marriage. Divorce is 

 granted in Utah on the ground of in- 

 sanity only when the condition is 

 incurable. 



"The Michigan asexualization law 

 provides for sterilization when 'there is 

 no probability that the condition of 

 such person so examined will improve 

 to such an extent as to render pro- 

 creation by such person advisable.' A 

 similar provision is found in the North 

 Dakota law." 



The authors go on to point out that 

 some sterilization measures which are 

 sound biologically may be quite wrong 

 from a sociological point of view. In 

 such a case, legislation must proceed 

 very slowly. Finally they discuss 

 briefly the whole question of whether 

 laws to prevent bad breeding are 

 feasible. 



"A frequent charge made against 

 eugenic legislation is that it is unwise, 

 that it is conceived in the isolation of 

 the schools and will never bear the test 

 of common use. Our attention is called 

 to the many Utopias which have come 

 to pass only in the minds of philosophers, 

 and to the failure of most 'ideal' com- 

 munities due to their disregard of com- 

 mon-sense premises. 



'Another objection to such laws is 

 raised by the 'all for love and the world 

 well lost' school. In their opinion, 

 even granted that by the exercise of the 

 police power it were possible to realize 

 this academic dream, the Eugenic State 

 must necessarily be a cold blooded 

 breeding station where romance is the 

 price paid for a better race. 



"Then there are theological objec- 

 tions. These apply especially to asex- 

 ualization. It is the opinion of some 

 people that although to operate on a 

 man for his own good is justifiable, to 

 operate on him for the good of society 

 is to tamper with the plans of Provi- 

 dence. One also hears it said by people 

 who are not avowedly actuated by 

 theological considerations that such 

 operations are 'unnatural.' 



"Lastly, the position is taken that 

 eugenic laws are impracticable, that 

 society will not tolerate them. To be 



sure, societ\- has tolerated sex taboos and 

 legal penalties much more onerous, but 

 long standing has made them seem 



'natural.' , 



OBJECTIONS EASILY ANSWERED. 



"The objections, then, to the legis- 

 lative attempt to apply the known facts 

 of biology to the betterment of human 

 stock are (1) that the laws themselves 

 would not accomplish what their authors 

 predict, or (2) that the cost of reform is 

 too great, or (3) that the laws are 

 impious, or (4) that society is incor- 

 rigible and the laws cannot be enforced. 

 In addition to these, Mr. G. B. Shaw has 

 said that we do not know what type of 

 htmian being we wish to develop, but 

 as the opinion of society has in the past 

 been a great factor in determining the 

 survival of individuals, this objection 

 holds only within certain limits. We 

 are rather confident that there are 

 certain characteristics we might wisely 

 ehminate. 



"To take issue with these antagonistic 

 criticisms of eugenic legislation is hardly 

 the purpose of this publication, though 

 a few of the more obvious rejoinders 

 may be noted. The inhetitance under 

 certain conditions of mental deficiency 

 is undisputed. Also the fact that mental 

 defectives are undesirable seems evident. 

 With such a backing for the project, 

 the further social control of the defective 

 deserves being tried out. Ultimately 

 every social measure must survive or be 

 eliminated according to the results of its 

 practical application. To call legisla- 

 tion experimental is to praise it. If 

 less legislation were regarded as final 

 and more were measured by its results, 

 we might have a better working code. 



"The second objection is due to ignor- 

 ance of the history of sex taboo. When 

 it is realized that the present limitation 

 of our individual liberty in the matter 

 of marriage is tacitly accepted by nearly 

 everyone, and that certainly in the past 

 much of this limitation was ridiculous, 

 the objection to further limitation of a 

 desirable sort falls to the ground, espe- 

 cially as in the change many of the 

 present useless taboos will be eliminated. 

 The taboo against incest, that of the 

 Jews against all exogamy and our own 



