The British scientist, Sir Francis Galton (a cousin of Charles Darwin) studied the pedigrees of some leading English families. He claimed to have discovered, as Karen Norrgard writes at nature.com “that superior intelligence and abilities were inherited with an efficiency of 20%. From this work, he coined the term ‘eugenics,’ meaning ‘well born,’ and theorized that humanity could be improved by encouraging the fittest members of society to have more children.”
Heredity and Positive Traits
Galton’s idea made sense in the latter part of the 19th century because it dovetailed so nicely with Darwin’s writing on evolution. And, its results were observable as farmers selectively bred desirable characteristics into chickens and pigs as well as grain and vegetables.
Eugenics became a fully accepted “science.” It was taught as an academic subject at many colleges and universities. Between 1912 and 1932 there were three large International Eugenics Conferences at which the latest research was announced and studied. The New York Times Archive carries a report (July 25, 1912) on the initial conference under the title, “First Eugenics Congress; Four Hundred Delegates in London -- Americans to Read Papers.”
Forced Sterilization Justified
Galton’s idea was that intelligent people should be encouraged to have more children and those less clever should be discouraged from reproducing. In this way, he theorized, a general raising of the level of intelligence would occur in the human race.
It was but a short step from discouraging the dull-minded from breeding to forcing them to stop. And, that’s what happened in several countries. Japan, the United States, and Canada were among the countries that passed laws to permit the forced sterilization of those deemed unfit to reproduce.
The “defect” that most jurisdictions sought to breed out their populations was various forms of mental illness.
Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta
In Canada, the province of Alberta took to the sterilization scheme more readily than other parts of the country.
In 1928, the Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta was passed. The aim was to stop the “feeble minded” from having children.
IQ tests were given to identify those deemed in need of sterilization. This led to disproportionate numbers of some groups being treated. Immigrants who had difficulty with English were bound to score lower on the IQ tests. So too, were Metis and Aboriginals for whom English was a second language.
Woman Sues Alberta over Sterilization
Leilani Muir had a troubled childhood. Her abusive parents took her to a mental hospital in Alberta and abandoned her in 1955.
The Alberta Online Encyclopedia writes that, “A year later, the Alberta’s Eugenics Board gave her an IQ test and a short interview. Based on their findings, she was declared a ‘moron’ and approved for sterilization. In 1959, she was told that her appendix would have to be removed.” At the same time, surgeons took the opportunity to cut her fallopian tubes.
Later in life and married, Muir tried to have children but could not get pregnant. Her doctor discovered why and Muir sued the Alberta government; she was awarded $740,000 in damages. Several hundred other women of the almost 3,000 who were forcibly sterilized have also successfully sued the government. The Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta was not repealed until 1972.
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