A Human Being, and Not a Mere Social Factor

Catholic Strategies for Dealing with Sterilization Statutes in the 1920s

Bibliographic Data

ID3572869
AuthorsSharon M Leon (0000-0003-0487-0639, University of Minnesota, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume73
Issue2
Pages383-411
Publication date2004-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChurch History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0009-6407 • E-ISSN: 1755-2613
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s000964070010931x
OpenAlexW2133525586
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited8

In the wake of the 1927 landmark Supreme Court decision in theBuck v. Bellcase, which affirmed the constitutionality of laws authorizing the compulsory sterilization of so-called "feeble-minded" residents of state institutions, moral theologian and priest John A. Ryan took up his pen to address the issue of sterilization from a Catholics perspective. In the resulting pamphlet,Human Sterilization, Ryan argued that eugenic sterilization measures were not only unscientific and bad social policy, but that theBuckdecision in its articulation of civil rights represented a clear departure from the understanding of natural rights in Catholic moral teaching. The production of this text was the first piece of literature published by the National Catholic Welfare Conference that attempted to mobilize Catholic citizens throughout the United States in active opposition to eugenic sterilizahon laws as they came before the state legislatures

Constitutionality · Eugenics · Legislature · Political science · Sociology · Statute · Sterilization (economics) · Supreme court · Catholicism and Religious Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · Medical History and Research · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub