B, V. Wagenen. Practical Eugenics. 21
PRELIMINARY REPORT TO THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL
EUGENICS CONGRESS,
Of the Committee of the Eugenics Section of the American Breeders Asso
ciation to Study and Report on the Best Practical Means for Cutting Off the
Defective Germ Plasm in the Human Population.
(Abstract.)
By Bleecker Van Wagenen, Chairman.
i. Brief history of the American Breeders’ Association, the Eugenics
Section and the Committee on Elimination of Defective Germ Plasm.
2. Concise statement of the problem before the Committee and reasons
for the investigation.
3. History of legislation in the United States authorising or requiring the
sterilization of certain classes of criminals, defectives and degenerates who
are under the control of the State in institutions. Digest of the laws now
in force. (This may be given as a lantern slide with greater effect.)
Legal views concerning the constitutionality of these laws.
4. Investigations of vasectomy in Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts and
elsewhere, with detailed reports of some typical cases. (With lantern
slides.) 5. Reports of sterilization of females, both of normal and abnormal
mentaility, with a number of typical cases showing after-effects. (With
lantern slides.)
6. Some observations in thremmatology suggesting important questions
concerning the practical effectiveness of sterilization as a eugenic measure.
7. Technical description of several kinds of sterilizing operations as now
performed. Vasectomy, ovariotomy and salpingectomy (with and without
complete excision), castration.
8. Reports of several cases of persons, male and female, who having
been completely sterilized for a time, recovered the power of procreation
and actually did procreate thereafter.
9. State of public opinion regarding sterilization in the United States
at the present time. Letters from Governors of States, views of Social
Workers and Institution people. Conflicting views of Roman Catholics
(as such). Digest of arguments set forth in a long controversy carried on
in the American Ecclesiastical Review, chiefly in Latin.
10. Brief report of other data collected by the Committee and programme
for future work, with a call for co-operation in securing further data per
tinent to this inquiry.
