Eugenics Movement

Backed by genetic theory at the time, and based in a political doctrine formulated by England's Sir Francis Galton in the 19th century, the goal of the eugenics movement was the improvement of the human race. The belief was that if “fit” members of society—the intelligent, successful middle and upper classes, could be encouraged to reproduce (“positive” eugenics), and the “unfit,” usually lower class, “mental defectives” could be prevented from increasing their numbers (“negative” eugenics), the end result should be a “super-race” of sorts.

The best-known example of such eugenic behavior occurred in Nazi Germany, where, starting in 1934, thousands of people were sterilized in an effort to “cleanse” the German population. Other European countries including Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland sterilized citizens, through legislation on the initiative of private citizens.

In the United States between 1909 and 1932, almost 30 states enacted sterilization laws. Seventeen states enacted or revised sterilization laws in the 4 years following Buck v. Bell, where the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Virginia's involuntary sterilization law, in 1927. Between 1931 and 1939, more than 20,000 institutionalized patients in the United States were sterilized, almost triple the number sterilized between 1920 and 1929.

In Canada sexual sterilization of the “feeble-minded” was a topic debated in many provinces, but only Alberta in 1928 and British Columbia in 1933 enacted some form of sterilization law. Of the two, Alberta pursued its sterilization program the most vehemently. Between 1929 and 1972 the Alberta Eugenics Board sterilized more than 2,800 people. Despite the reluctance of many European and American jurisdictions to continue with their sterilization programs following the revelation of Hitler's sterilization campaign, the sterilization rate in Alberta did not diminish following World War II.

The Alberta sterilization program operated away from public and legislative scrutiny; this resulted in the Eugenics Board frequently pursuing activities outside the law. In 1995, accused of wrongful sterilization by former patient Leilani Muir, the provincial government was put on trial and found guilty of violating Muir's rights and dignity. This finding spurred hundreds of other victims to come forward and launch a similar suit. The claim was eventually settled out of court; victims received financial compensation and were offered an apology from the government.

In the case of Alberta, the Sterilization Act was passed and implemented with a cavalier disregard for the rights of children. The belief that sexually sterilizing children with low IQs or behavioral problems was an appropriate and effective means of safeguarding the purity of the race, and a government-affiliated [Page 539]body with the power and freedom to interpret both science and social policy as they wished, led to human injustice and violation of bodies, minds, and the futures of citizens. Research shows that sterilization rates were higher for women, aboriginals, children and teenagers, and people diagnosed as “mentally defective,” although definitions of “mental defectiveness” were vague and based less in medical evidence than on socially based normative judgments regarding class, ethnicity, race, age, and gender.