| 1. Peer Reviewed Title: Reproductive and sexual rights: history and contemporary challenges. Author: Das A Source: Journal of Family Welfare. 2006;52 Spec No:19-24. Abstract: Control over women's reproductive abilities and functions have been one of the key aspects of the domination over women and their secondary status in society. It is, therefore, not surprising that from the earliest times, movements for women's rights have included reproductive and sexual rights as some of their key concerns. This may sound surprising to many who consider reproductive rights as a modernday struggle, a struggle that has intensified only after the International Conference for Population and Development in 1994. This is not so. The earliest demands of women's movements in the West included demands for the right to vote, equal pay for equal work, the right to property, the right to education, as well as the right to initiate divorce, obtain and use contraceptives, have abortions and decide whether or not to go through pregnancy. In India too, the work on women's upliftment done by the great social reformers of the nineteenth century like Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar in Bengal or Mahatma Jyotiba Phule in Maharashtra included issues like widow remarriage, polygamy, and child marriage which are clearly within the realm of reproductive rights. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | INDIA | HISTORICAL REVIEW | REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS | FAMILY PLANNING | CONTRACEPTION | MALTHUSIANISM | EUGENICS | POPULATION CONTROL | POPULATION POLICY | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Human Rights | Political Factors | Sociocultural Factors | Population Theory | Demography | Social Sciences | Science | Genetics | Biology | Social Policy | Policy Document Number: 305290   |
2. ![]() Peer Reviewed Title: Beyond tools: Technology as a feminist agenda. Author: Ramilo CG Source: Development. 2006 Mar;49(1):68-71. Abstract: Chat Garcia Ramilo argues strongly for a feminist agenda on technology. Drawing on the discussions at the AWID Forum, she shows how within the framework of women's rights technology is a determining factor in women's sexuality, representation and exploitation, and has to be seen as one more facet of violence against women. She calls on the feminist movement to engage technologies as a site of feminist political struggle. (author's) Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | CRITIQUE | WOMEN | FEMINISM | TECHNOLOGY | GENETICS | EUGENICS | INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION | INTERNET | Demographic Factors | Population | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Factors | Biology | Communication | Information Networks Document Number: 319972   |
| 3. Peer Reviewed Title: Introduction: Taming the beast. Author: Rao M Source: Indian Journal of Gender Studies. 2006 May-Aug;13(2):163-169. Abstract: People frequently ask me-and these are people typically critical of the important role played by the Indian women's movements in their opposition to many government programmes and policies related to population-why is population considered a 'women's issue'? Why isn't it a health issue? And why are these women always critical of everything? These are very relevant questions indeed, but answer are not always so easy to provide. The issue of population is not merely a woman's issue, nor is it merely an issue that concerns health-far, far too many other issues and discourses are involved. 'Women and motherhood' has course been an extremely important trope in the construction of nations across the world. In the case of India what is also indicated in this discourse is the troubled, indeed fraught, ideas of Indian womanhood that had informed a range of nationalist debates in the 19th century, from age consent to sati. In the colonial period Indian women had been objects of nationalist reformist agendassetting right what were conceived as the aberrations of recent past; practices such as widow immolation and child marriages were evidence to the British that they did indeed have a civilising mission among the barbaric and traditional natives. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | CRITIQUE | WOMEN'S GROUPS | POPULATION POLICY | MALTHUSIANISM | EUGENICS | FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS | POLITICAL FACTORS | RELIGIOUS ASPECTS | REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Interest Groups | Sociocultural Factors | Social Policy | Policy | Population Theory | Demography | Social Sciences | Science | Genetics | Biology | Family Planning | Religion | Human Rights Document Number: 305300   |
| 4. Title: Ethical and political constraints on public choices in the field of fertility. Author: Demeny P Source: Genus. 2005 Jul-Dec;61(3-4):331-346. Abstract: Admission of new members by a group - whether a family, a club, or a nation - that imposes significant potential costs or confers potential benefits to those who belong to it is of evident concern to the existing members. Directly or indirectly, if often with a time lag, the number and quality of the new entrants will affect, positively or negatively, existing members' material welfare and social well-being. The distribution of costs and benefits experienced by the existing members consequent upon admission of new entrants may be of course highly uneven. For an orderly admission process decision-making rules need be adopted that can effectively reconcile conflicting interests. Inevitably, these rules, hence their ultimate outcome, will reflect the ethical principles dominant in a given group and the distribution of political power and influence within the group. Outcomes that are satisfactory to some may not be welcomed by others. Group size and homogeneity of interests as perceived by the relevant decision-makers strongly affect the prospect for agreement on the desirability of adding new members, hence agreement on rules that regulate the right to do so. Small group size facilitates bargaining and tradeoffs as does similarity of tastes and values. The smallest unit of society beyond the individual, the family, illustrates this potential. Although interests even within a family can diverge, and decision-making power is not necessarily evenly distributed, family decisions on whether to opt for expansion of family size or else against it tend to be accepted by outside observers as optimal from the point of view of the family itself. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | FERTILITY | POLITICAL FACTORS | POPULATION POLICY | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | POPULATION GROWTH | REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS | REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR | EUGENICS | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Sociocultural Factors | Social Policy | Policy | Economic Factors | Human Rights | Genetics | Biology Document Number: 293687   |
| 5. Title: "Your body is yours": anarchism, birth control, and eugenics in interwar France. Author: Sonn R Source: Journal of the History of Sexuality. 2005 Oct;14(4):415-432. Abstract: Eugenics in the interwar period (1918-39) is generally associated with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, though interest in preventing the "unfit" from breeding also reached a peak in the United States in these same years. Most French leaders, by contrast, evinced much less interest in controlling or limiting births than in increasing the quantity of French people. The Third Republic in France supported pronatalist policies, and a host of organizations rallied to the cause of the large family. While many of these French profamily organizations were Catholic, Radicals and even Socialists as well as politicians on the Right were generally united in encouraging population growth. That left the extreme Left to battle for birth control and to advocate for demographic quality over quantity, especially a higher quality of life for the working classes. At the forefront of that struggle were the anarchists, who had been identified with neo-Malthusianism and its emphasis on birth control since the 1890s. As a logical extension of this demand for control over reproduction and for quality of life over population growth, some anarchists began to advocate negative eugenics in the interwar era, arguing that alcoholics, diseased, and other "unfit" people should refrain from having children, alongside their emphasis on positive eugenics, which encouraged allegedly superior people to bear more children. This dual regulation of population was to be done not for the good of the state, as in Fascist regimes, but for a healthier and self-regulating working class. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: FRANCE | HISTORICAL REVIEW | EUGENICS | CONTRACEPTION | FAMILY PLANNING | POLITICAL FACTORS | ABORTION LAW | CULTURE | REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS | SEXUALITY | SOCIAL CHANGE | Developed Countries | Europe, Western | Europe | Genetics | Biology | Sociocultural Factors | Fertility Control, Postconception | Human Rights | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 310685   Notification |
| 6. Title: Marketing theory: sexuality, subjectivity and government in China. Author: Sigley G Source: Asian Studies Review. 2004 Mar;28(1):75-82. Abstract: What does a book on dance halls have in common with a study of eugenics? Sex. More precisely, as the title suggest, James Farrer's Opening Up: Youth Sex Culture and Market Reform in Shanghai locates itself in the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Shanghai. Likewise, Frank Dikötter's Imperfect Conceptions: Medical Knowledge, Birth Defects and Eugenics in China takes as its field of inquiry eugenic discourse in twentieth-century China. As is no doubt obvious, the books also take "China" as a common object. The combination of "sex" and "China", although a crowd pleaser, remains relatively uncharted. It is therefore encouraging to see in recent years an increasing interest in investigating the many dimensions of sex, sexuality and gender in the Chinese context. In this review I will use the divergent approaches and objects of study adopted by Farrer and Dikötter as points of departure to highlight some concerns regarding the theorising of sexuality, subjectivity and government. Although the publication dates of Imperfect Conceptions (1998) and Opening Up (2002) are only four years apart, the kinds of worlds they describe are, in some ways, markedly distinct. No doubt this has to do with the particular objects of inquiry - urban youth sexuality in one case and medical discourse and the state in the other - but there are also some common theoretical issues that are worthy of further reflection. I would like to use this review as a vehicle to consider the complex and highly contested relationship between the playing out of sexual identity and governmental attempts to regulate sexual desire and reproduction. In particular I would like to consider further what I regard as the relatively undertheorised position of the market and the state within Chinese studies. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | CRITIQUE | ECONOMIC MODEL | URBAN POPULATION | YOUTH | GOVERNMENT | EUGENICS | SEXUALITY | CULTURE | GENDER RELATIONS | MACROECONOMIC FACTORS | SOCIALISM | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Theoretical Models | Research Methodology | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Age Factors | Political Factors | Sociocultural Factors | Genetics | Biology | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Gender Issues | Economic Factors | Political Systems Document Number: 298647   |
| 7. Title: Eugenics and compulsory sterilization laws: providing redress for the victims of a shameful era in United States history. Author: Silver MG Source: George Washington Law Review. 2004 Apr;72(4):862-892. Abstract: This Note argues that the application of involuntary sterilization laws violated the privacy rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of over 60,000 Americans. A combination of the Court's reluctance to speak to sterilization laws in recent years, procedural obstacles within the legal system, and practical concerns have allowed the victims to go unrecognized and uncompensated. Consequently, Congress should apologize to the sterilization victims and provide incentives for the states to identify and compensate them, and the states with sterilization laws still on the books should repeal them. This Note consists of five parts. Part I discusses the historical background of the American eugenics movement, the rationale behind the Buck decision, and its implications vis-à-vis state sterilization statutes. Part II explains the paradox that has gripped this area of law since the 1940s. Although many states repealed their sterilization laws and several courts criticized Buck, the Supreme Court has not overruled Buck and the lower courts refuse to declare the practice of involuntary sterilization unconstitutional. Part III outlines why those whom the states sterilized under eugenics-based laws suffered constitutional violations. Part IV outlines the victims' efforts at obtaining judicial and legislative redress. Part V argues that Congress and the states should act legislatively to recognize and compensate the victims because of the legal system's inability to address their grievances. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | RESEARCH REPORT | EUGENICS | LEGISLATION | FEMALE STERILIZATION | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Genetics | Biology | Sterilization, Sexual | Family Planning Document Number: 284418   |
| 8. Title: Population control is history: new perspectives on the international campaign to limit population growth. Author: Connelly M Source: Comparative Studies in Society and History. 2003 Jan;45(1):122-147. Abstract: This article surveys this new and expanding area of inquiry by analyzing some of the most impressive studies emerging from different disciplines. Yet it also draws attention to how they are diverging, making Greenhalgh's objective appear increasingly distant. Historically minded population specialists as well as historians of population policy draw on their own experiences or elite archives, almost always in the United States. They rarely connect with scholars writing on the microhistory of reproduction, work that greatly complicates and enriches our understanding of agency in population policy. Yet these scholars, for their part, seldom ask how participants' choices might have had consequences beyond their own lives and communities. And whether written at the level of "world systems" or the individual clinic, studies all too often portray population control as a Cold War strategy the West foisted on the rest of the world, ignoring evidence that constituencies for interventionist policies emerged across Asia and Latin America decades earlier. This essay will endeavor to show what might be gained if these different approaches were brought into dialogue and set in an international and comparative perspective. It will describe population control as a precociously international movement that served as a platform for an array of ideological projects. Episodes from its long history will help to illustrate how it can and should be seen as a key site of political contestation and cross-cultural learning, in which revolutionary leaders used international conferences to articulate new visions of North-South relations while "clients" treated birth control clinics as sites of negotiation and exchange. Examples such as these will demonstrate how one can use the politics of population to probe the tensions within and between feminism, eugenics, environmentalism, and "development" as they interacted in a global arena, and thus illuminate the full dimensions of a subject that scholars have scarcely begun to explore. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | HISTORICAL REVIEW | RESEARCH ACTIVITIES | DEMOGRAPHERS | POPULATION CONTROL | POPULATION GROWTH | POPULATION POLICY | CAMPAIGNS | POLITICAL FACTORS | FAMILY PLANNING | DEMOGRAPHY | DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION | EUGENICS | Research Methodology | Social Sciences | Social Policy | Policy | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Communication Programs | Communication | Genetics | Biology Document Number: 287216   |
| 9. Title: Impact of pharmacogenomics on neglected diseases of the developing world. Author: Pang T Source: American Journal of Pharmacogenomics. 2003;3(6):393-398. Abstract: Pharmacogenomics promises to have an important impact on the major health problems of the developing world, especially on neglected infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS- Its capacity to identify new targets for drug development, together with its potential application in identifying populations who will respond favorably to a particular drug, gives it a unique place as a technology to bridge the gnomic divide between rich and poor nations. To realize its true potential, however, significant scientific, legal, ethical, political, and economic challenges need to be overcome. For this to occur, an innovative global approach based on strong collaboration between industry, academia, non-governmental, and international organizations will be required. Simultaneously, more equitable and active participation from developing country researchers themselves is critical in overcoming these challenges. (author's) Language: English Keywords: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES | RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT | INFECTIONS | DRUGS | EUGENICS | ETHICS | FUNDS | MALARIA | TUBERCULOSIS | HIV | AIDS | Technology | Economic Factors | Diseases | Treatment | Genetics | Biology | Financial Activities | Parasitic Diseases | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases Document Number: 278253   |
| 10. Title: Eugenics and sterilization in the heartland. Author: Wehmeyer ML Source: Mental Retardation. 2003 Feb;41(1):57-60. Abstract: On May 2, 2002, Mark Warner, governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, apologized for "Virginia's participation in eugenics," which he categorized as a "shameful effort in which state government never should have been involved" ("Virginia Apologizes," 2002). Governor Warner's apology was issued on the 75th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Buck v. Bell (1927), which "opened the floodgates" (Smith & Polloway, 1993) for the wholesale sterilization of people with epilepsy or who were then classified as feeble- minded. It was also the anniversary of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes' now infamous statement that "three generations of imbeciles are enough" Fittingly, Virginia also dedicated a historical marker to the memory of Carrie Buck, who became the first person to be forcibly sterilized under Virginia's 1924 law on sterilization, upheld by the 1927 Supreme Court decision. Virginia has received the lion's share of publicity with regard to human sterilization, in part due to the infamy of the Buck v. Bell case and its impact on the subsequent rate of sterilizations; in part because so many sterilizations were performed in that state after Buck v. Bell; and in part because the voices in our field that have most persistently and eloquently reminded us not to forget this portion of our past have often come from Virginia (Smith, 1994, 1995; Smith & Nelson, 1989; Smith & Polloway, 1993). It is worth noting, however, that in considering the appropriate response to the occasion of Virginia's apology, the stain of sterilization is not limited to the Commonwealth of Virginia but permeates the fabric of our country. There are, undoubtedly, many more apologies owed. Virginia was neither first to the sterilization scene nor, perhaps, the most enthusiastic of its enactors (although Kevless, 1995, noted that by the end of the 1940s, Virginia was second nationally in the total number of sterilizations performed, accounting for roughly one seventh of all sterilizations in the country up to that time. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | VIRGINIA | EUGENICS | STERILIZATION, SEXUAL | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Genetics | Biology | Family Planning Document Number: 284266   |
| 11. Title: Parental selection of children's sexual orientation. Author: Greenberg AS; Bailey JM Source: Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2001;30(4):423-437. Abstract: As we learn more about the causes of sexual orientation, the likelihood increases that parents will one day be able to select the orientation of their children. This possibility (at least that of selecting for heterosexuality) has generated a great deal of concern among supporters of homosexual rights, with such selection being widely condemned as harmful and morally repugnant. Notwithstanding this widespread condemnation, and even assuming, as we do, that homosexuality is entirely acceptable morally, allowing parents, by means morally unproblematic in themselves, to select for heterosexuality would be morally acceptable. This is because allowing parents to select their children’s sexual orientation would further parent’s freedom to raise the sort of children they wish to raise and because selection for heterosexuality may benefit parents and children and is unlikely to cause significant harm. (author's) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | PARENTS | CHILDREN | HOMOSEXUALS | SEX PRESELECTION | ETHICS | GENETICS | EUGENICS | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Sex Behavior | Behavior | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Biology Document Number: 292734   |
| 12. Title: Is current practice around late termination of pregnancy eugenic and discriminatory? Maternal interests and abortion. Author: Savulescu J Source: Journal of Medical Ethics. 2001 Jun;27(3):165-71. Abstract: The attitudes of Australian practitioners working in clinical genetics and obstetrical ultrasound were surveyed on whether termination of pregnancy (TOP) should be available for conditions ranging from mild to severe fetal abnormality and for non-medical reasons. These were compared for terminations at 13 and 24 weeks. It was found that some practitioners would not facilitate TOP at 24 weeks even for lethal or major abnormalities, fewer practitioners support TOP at 24 weeks compared with 13 weeks for any condition, and the difference in attitudes to TOP between 13 and 24 weeks is most marked for pregnancies which are normal or involve a mild disorder. It is argued that a fetal abnormality criterion for late TOP is inconsistently applied, discriminatory and eugenic. Four possible moral justifications for current practice are examined, each of which would require significant changes to current practice. The author argues in favor of a maternal interests criterion for any TOP. (author's) Language: English Keywords: CRITIQUE | ABORTION | ETHICS | EUGENICS | GENETIC COUNSELING | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Genetics | Biology | Counseling | Clinic Activities | Program Activities | Programs | Organization and Administration Document Number: 162497   Notification |
| 13. Title: Parental selection of children's sexual orientation: a commentary. Author: West DJ Source: Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2001;30(4):439-441. Abstract: One can agree that for many individuals sexual orientation is largely beyond conscious control and therefore morally neutral. One can also agree that homosexual activity is not in itself directly harmful to the participants or to third parties, so justification on pragmatic, secular grounds for criminalizing the behaviour or discriminating against homosexuals is hard to find. Although the authors support homosexuals to this extent, they argue that parents should be free to choose to avoid producing a homosexual offspring. Consideration of the implications of permitting or refusing choice is at present hypothetical. The available evidence points to sexual orientation development being determined by a multiplicity of factors that include features of the uterine environment as well as social and sexual learning. Genetic predisposition is itself likely to be governed by numbers of interacting genes that promote outcomes that are not necessarily all or none. The homosexual/heterosexual dimension is not always a dichotomy; the range of sexualities includes bisexuals as well as a variety of gender dysphorics and physical intersexuals. The technology to fulfil parental wishes is a long way off and if it comes it may do no more than reduce the likelihood of exclusive homosexuality. However, for the purpose of discussion one may assume, as the authors do, a situation in which parents can opt for heterosexual babies. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | CRITIQUE | PARENTS | CHILDREN | HOMOSEXUALS | SEX PRESELECTION | ETHICS | GENETICS | EUGENICS | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Sex Behavior | Behavior | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Biology Document Number: 292735   |
| 14. Title: Population perspectives and sustainable development. Author: Rajeswar J Source: Sustainable Development. 2000;8(3):135-141. Abstract: Neo-Malthusianism advocates 'population control' as the solution to all major global problems. While overpopulation is a serious problem, blaming the population growth in the South as the prime cause for the destruction of the environment is hypocritical. Rather than the 'bottom billion', it is the 'top billion' population from the 'affluent' West - and their 'effluence' - that is inflicting greater environmental injury to the earth. In the patriarchal system of free-market economy, aborigines and women are marked inferior. Given the strong preference for male children in many Third World countries, the statistics on 'missing girls' explain the sad situation of female infanticide and underreporting of female births. Most contraceptive research is aimed at women only. Furthermore, newly developed contraceptives would be first tested on poor women of colour, often without their knowledge or consent. However, after the 1994 Cairo Population Conference, reproductive rights and empowerment of women are recognized as key issues in controlling population growth. There must be a radical change and paradigm shift in policy-making at every level from subjugation and subordination to partnership in order to solve most of the world's problems. (author's) Language: English Keywords: DEVELOPED COUNTRIES | DEVELOPING COUNTRIES | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT | POPULATION THEORY | MALTHUSIANISM | OVERPOPULATION | POPULATION CONTROL | ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT | CONSUMPTION | POPULATION GROWTH | EUGENICS | DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS | WOMEN'S STATUS | SEX PREFERENCE | CONTRACEPTION RESEARCH | GENDER ISSUES | FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS | ETHICS | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Demography | Social Sciences | Carrying Capacity | Natural Resources | Environment | Population Policy | Social Policy | Policy | Macroeconomic Factors | Population Dynamics | Population | Genetics | Biology | Socioeconomic Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Contraception | Family Planning | Programs | Organization and Administration Document Number: 181894   |
| 15. Title: Will the "real" mother please stand up? The logic of eugenics and American national family planning. Author: Collins PH Source: In: Revisioning women, health and healing. Feminist, cultural and technoscience perspectives, edited by Adele E. Clarke and Virginia L. Olesen. New York, New York, Routledge, 1999. :266-82. Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between motherhood, American national identity, and population policies. Several features characterize the links between the biological, nuclear family and the American national family. These include the facts that presumptions of blood ties underlie both constructs; that family metaphors and those of nation both rely on distinctive notions of place, space, and territory; that those born into the American national family as natural or real citizens acquire certain rights attached to that citizenship; that an internal hierarchy exists within biological families; and that families contain policies or rules regulating their own reproduction. In addition, the paper examines how the traditional family ideal functions to structure notions of real motherhood and how this family ideal in turn frames American national identity. Moreover, it investigates how logic of eugenics provides an intellectual context for assessing contemporary population policies by which the nation-state aims to attend to its health. Furthermore, in order to highlight the centrality of motherhood in these relations, a survey on population policies targeted toward middle-class White women, working-class White women, and working-class Black women is presented. Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | LITERATURE REVIEW | MOTHERS | NATIONALITY | EUGENICS | POPULATION POLICY | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Parents | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Genetics | Biology | Social Policy | Policy Document Number: 153407   |
| 16. Title: A veteran diplomat speaks to the G-77 nations. Author: Grondin G Source: VIVANT. 1999 Mar 30;1(6):2-3. Abstract: This is an address by Gilles Grodin to the G-77 nations. Developed countries are now confronting the damage caused by their population control ideas: an aging population. This problem is the direct result of the fact that 30 years ago developed countries committed to contraception and abortion as a public-policy priority. Now, the West is contemplating euthanasia as a solution to their aging problem. The US in particular cannot maintain its dominant global position as long as the population of the Third World, especially those 13 countries named in NSSM 200, continues to expand exponentially. The West's proposed solution to this problem is to attain demographic equilibrium by reducing the gap between the two worlds. This goal can be pursued by making those specifically named Third World countries adopt the very same policies of birth control and family planning instituted by the West. Such decadent population policies can be adopted by establishing a link between US willingness to extend economic and social aid to developing countries and these countries' acceptance of the installation of family planning facilities and programs. The UN world community needs to realize that contraception and abortion can only lead to euthanasia and, eventually, to the disappearance of human society. Language: English Keywords: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES | CONFERENCES AND CONGRESSES | POPULATION POLICY | DEMOGRAPHIC AGING | EUGENICS | Social Policy | Policy | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Genetics | Biology Document Number: 143618   |
| 17. Title: [Physicians behind sterilization laws in place before Hitler's takeover. Development of German medicine from a long-term perspective] Lakare bakom steriliseringslag redan innan Hitler tog makten. Author: Bergentz SE Source: LAKARTIDNINGEN. 1998 May 6;95(19):2240-2. Abstract: This article describes the proceedings of a symposium held in Washington, D.C., in 1997, which were published in book form and deal with medicine and the ethics of the medical establishment in 19th and 20th century Germany. The role of the medical establishment during Nazi rule was first denied, although the majority of German doctors knew what had happened. In 1989, Rickard Toellner contended that they had to accept responsibility and draw the appropriate conclusions. Documentation included 422 scientific publications, of which only two were from Germany. The antecedents of mass murder, sterilization, euthanasia, and human experimentation were rooted in social Darwinism in the later part of the 1800s. By the time of Hitler's taking power in 1933, race philosophers, biologists, and anthropologists had developed their fantasy about a new human race free of diseases and weakness based on survival of the fittest. This medical utopia resulted in sterilizations and euthanasia. The so-called T-4 program exterminated mental patients starting in 1939. Human experiments cost at least 800 lives. The scandal around Joachim Sewering, who was elected president of the World Medical Association in 1993 despite his active participation in the Nazi party and Nazi organizations, was a reminder about the continuing dominant role of the older generation of German doctors, not only in the German medical establishment, but also in international bodies. German doctors have been able, ambitious, and effective, but antidemocratic, anti-Semitic, and anti-feminist. On the other hand, a new generation has grown up after the war with a more open attitude who seem to learn more about the past and try to understand its causes. Language: Swedish Keywords: GERMANY | CRITIQUE | PHYSICIANS | INFLUENTIALS | ETHICS | EUGENICS | EUTHANASIA | POLITICAL FACTORS | MENTAL RETARDATION | STERILIZATION, SEXUAL | Europe, Central | Europe | Developed Countries | Health Personnel | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Knowledge Sources | Communication | Genetics | Biology | Mortality | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Intelligence | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Family Planning Document Number: 138343   |
| 18. Title: Eugenics and population policies. Author: Bittles AH; Chew Y Source: In: Human biology and social inequality, edited by S. S. Strickland and P. S. Shetty. New York, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1998. :272-87. Abstract: This article reviews the eugenics movements in the 19th and early 20th centuries in North America and Western Europe and assesses the population control policies of Singapore and China that embody eugenics principles. Eugenics began with the theories of Francis Galton in the mid to late 19th century. Eugenics practice means restricting the reproduction of persons believed to be of inferior genetic potential, or encouraging people with desirable traits to increase their fertility. In the 1930s, the UK recommended that mental defectives and those with inheritable disabilities be voluntarily sterilized. Post-1945, Sir Cyril Burt published evidence showing that fertility was greater among those with lower intelligence and the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was declining. Charles Davenport, with the support of the Harriman, Kellogg and Carnegie families, strongly influenced the eugenics movement in the US. Germans had a Sterilization Law in the 1930s and practiced euthanasia for mentally retarded people. The Nuremburg Laws and Nazi selective breeding in Germany furthered eugenics practices. Population control measures in Singapore supported abortion and sterilization post-1959 and larger family size after 1983, but only among better educated persons. China began restricting population growth with the 1979 1-child policy. Son preference is still a cultural practice. A 1995 law requires premarital checks for unfavorable inherited genetic diseases and sterilization or long-term contraception. Female infanticide or abandonment, fatal accidents among female infants, and suicide among adult females remain unexplained fixtures of history. Language: English Keywords: EUROPE | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | CANADA | SINGAPORE | CHINA | SUMMARY REPORT | POPULATION POLICY | EUGENICS | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | North America, Northern | Asia, Southeastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Asia, Eastern | Social Policy | Policy | Genetics | Biology Document Number: 142217   |
| 19. Title: [Sterilization: a re-evaluation?] Sterilisering -- en revurdering? Author: Bordahl PE Source: TIDSSKRIFT FOR DEN NORSKE LAEGEFORENING. 1998 Feb 28;118(6):861-2. Abstract: Sterilization is the most widespread method of contraception in the world today. At the end of the 19th century, it was used for racial hygiene and eugenics purposes. Subsequently, an explosive increase occurred in its use during the 1970s and 1980s due to the spread of family planning. The eugenics use of sterilization and as a basis for family planning has generated debate because of its use in poor countries and earlier in Nazi Germany. The report about widespread forced sterilization in Sweden in the first half of the century also drew attention. During 1929-35 the Scandinavian countries introduced sterilizations laws, but research tracing their targeted victims has not been concluded yet. These comprised nomadic groups, the mentally retarded, and those with psychiatric ailments. In the fall of 1997 a Norwegian politician even suggested the revival of this practice to be aimed at some groups born in other countries. The concept of sterilization for eugenics purposes was rooted in a misconstrued interpretation of Darwin's theory of evolution, the so-called social Darwinism, insufficient knowledge about genetics, and latent or open racism. The first legislative motion about forced sterilization was introduced in the state of Indiana (US) about 100 years ago, where the first eugenics sterilization law was passed in 1907. Other states followed suit, and in 1927 the US Supreme Court reaffirmed the practice. In Norway, sterilization became an issue in the 1930s, and some protagonists hailed the regulation of the reproduction of those with minimal benefit to society. In the 1960s and 1970s the desire for family planning gained ground, and in 1977 a new law on sterilization was passed. Language: Norwegian Keywords: NORWAY | HISTORICAL REVIEW | STERILIZATION, SEXUAL | MENTAL RETARDATION | EUGENICS | ETHNIC GROUPS | LEGISLATION | POLITICAL FACTORS | Developed Countries | Europe, Northern | Europe | Family Planning | Intelligence | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Genetics | Biology | Cultural Background | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population Document Number: 133994   |
| 20. Title: Human fertility and differential birth rates in American eugenics and genetics: a brief history. Author: Cooke KJ Source: MOUNT SINAI JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, NEW YORK. 1998 May;65(3):161-6. Abstract: Eugenics is a broad term used to describe a range of social and state-sponsored reform movements. The manifestations of hereditary reform worldwide are discussed. In particular, the history of eugenics in the US is reviewed, with focus upon concerns about differences in birth rates between various racial, ethnic, and educational groups. In the early 20th century, the growing body of knowledge in genetics led to an expectation that physicians should use their knowledge about genetics to help them decide what sort of advice and assistance should be given to people who wanted knowledge about birth control or help in resolving problems related to sterility and infertility. As knowledge continues to expand in the field of genetics, physicians are under growing pressure to make similar genetics-based decisions. Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | HISTORICAL REVIEW | FERTILITY | DIFFERENTIAL FERTILITY | BIRTH RATE | EUGENICS | GENETICS | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Fertility Measurements | Biology Document Number: 139219   |
| 21. Title: A Martian view of the Hardinian taboo. Eugenics is flourishing among population control groups and intellectual elites [letter] Author: Gardner G Source: BMJ (CLINICAL RESEARCH ED.). 1998 May 2;316(7141):1386. Abstract: In an article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 1997, M. King and C. Elliott praise the ideas of Garrett Hardin. Hardin, however, is a eugenicist, a former director of the American Eugenics Society, who was an active member at the same time that the Nazi eugenicist Otmar Von Verschuer became a foreign member in 1956. Verschuer was a teacher of Josef Mengele, who helped to finance Mengele's experiments at Auschwitz. Even though Verschuer's activities were well known, the eugenics establishment accorded him honors and academic favors. It is no surprise that Hardin would associate with people who so blatantly ignored human rights. The links between population control and eugenics are easy to uncover. For example, the International Planned Parenthood Federation was a member of the Eugenics Society in 1977 and still financially supports China's coercive and eugenics-based population policy. Contrary to King and Elliott's claim that the genocide in Rwanda was due to population pressures, it was actually the result of eugenic racism. Rather than die out in 1945, eugenics continues to flourish among population control groups and intellectual elites, and is now also upon the pages of the BMJ. Language: English Keywords: CRITIQUE | EUGENICS | POPULATION CONTROL | INTEREST GROUPS | Genetics | Biology | Population Policy | Social Policy | Policy | Political Factors Document Number: 135941   |
| 22. Title: Eugenics, contraception, abortion and ethics [editorial] Author: Gillon R Source: JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS. 1998 Aug;24(4):219-20. Abstract: This editorial comments on issues raised in an article on Platonic and Aristotelian approaches to eugenics in this issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics. The editorial notes that the work of these well-intentioned ancient philosophers adds to what Nazi depravities and recent oppressive sterilization laws reveal about the evils of eugenics. In his idealized republic, Plato would allow the philosopher-king to attempt to improve human stock and control the size of the ruling guardian class by controlling breeding. Aristotle thought this impractical and proposed stringent compulsory birth control measures to control the size of the lower classes. He also argued for compulsory prenatal care. Assuming that compulsory birth control or prenatal care is unacceptable, the question remains if voluntary birth control and prenatal care are eugenic measures and, if so, are objectionable. According to the definition of eugenics proposed in the journal article, neither voluntary action would be a eugenic measure. The next question is the moral standing of voluntary birth control (abortion) to prevent the birth of a child likely to have a genetically transmitted disorder. Such action may fall within the definition of eugenics, and there are a variety of moral arguments mounted by feminists and disability advocates against it. On the other hand, defenders of genetically-inspired abortion would argue that such action is taken simply to avoid creating new people who would suffer undesirable disabilities. It is concluded that labeling such action "eugenic" does not settle the controversy. Language: English Keywords: PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | EUGENICS | CONTRACEPTION | ABORTION | ETHICS | ANTENATAL CARE | Genetics | Biology | Family Planning | Fertility Control, Postconception | Maternal Health Services | Maternal-Child Health Services | Primary Health Care | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health Document Number: 138450   Notification |
| 23. Title: [Sterilizations were not a consequence of social engineering] Steriliseringarna ej foljd av social ingenjorskonst. Author: Hogberg U Source: LAKARTIDNINGEN. 1998 Jan 7;95(1-2):11-3, 16-7. Abstract: A debate relating to forced sterilization in Sweden in the 1940s and 1950s was analyzed and it was concluded that the number of such cases was highly exaggerated. The 1917 marriage law (derived from a 1686 church law) prohibited marriage for the mentally retarded and those afflicted with infectious venereal diseases. In Sweden, the first sterilizations were carried out in 1906, and in 1924 a motion in the parliament questioned the circumstances of such sterilizations. The 1934 law concerning sterilization defined the mentally retarded as the prime target, but stated that no one could be forced to undergo it. Medical genetics and eugenics provided the framework for the sterilization question. In 1941, even asocial behavior was included as cause for sterilization. Nevertheless, Nazism and racism did not directly play a role in sterilizations; social indication was the main factor. At the beginning of the 1950s eugenic sterilizations declined. During 1935-40 a total of 427 sterilizations were approved for psychiatric indication, but the 1941 law hiked the numbers until 1945. During 1943-57 a total of 10,305 sterilizations were carried out because of eugenic indication, almost 50% of them during abortion. During 1943-57 a total of 800 sterilizations were performed for social indication. Sterilizations for voluntary medical indications rose from 2% in 1943 to over 90% during the 1960s. The mortality rate of abortion in combination with sterilization dropped from 3.4 to 1 per 1000 operations, but the relatively high rate had to do with cesarean section operations and illegal abortions. Modern medicine makes it possible to screen for genetic defects and the history of sterilization is evidence of the need for more respect for the individual. Language: Swedish Keywords: SWEDEN | HISTORICAL REVIEW | STERILIZATION, SEXUAL | MENTAL RETARDATION | EUGENICS | LEGISLATION | POLITICAL FACTORS | MORTALITY | Developed Countries | Europe, Northern | Europe | Family Planning | Intelligence | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Genetics | Biology | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population Document Number: 134003   |
| 24. Title: Population policy in the age of fascism: observations on recent literature. Author: Ipsen C Source: POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW. 1998 Sep;24(3):579-92, 670-1. Abstract: Until about 15 years ago, practically the only book-length English-language source of information on population policy in Western Europe between World War I and World War II was David Glass's book "Population Policies and Movements in Europe," published in 1940. Now, however, a series of monographs has begun to fill the gap, partly thanks to a better understanding of European historical demography and partly due to the interest in the pre-World War II practice of eugenics. Scholarship on eugenics has a longer history than that on population policy per se, with the greatest scrutiny directed to Germany and the Anglo-American world. The recently produced literature on population policy between the wars is reviewed. However, despite this new flood of commentary, the issue of population and policy is far from exhausted. Work on other nondemocratic contexts, such as Franco's Spain, would also be a welcome addition to the current body of related literature. Language: English Keywords: EUROPE, WESTERN | LITERATURE REVIEW | POPULATION POLICY | HISTORICAL DEMOGRAPHY | EUGENICS | Europe | Developed Countries | Social Policy | Policy | Demography | Social Sciences | Genetics | Biology Document Number: 138621   |
| 25. Title: Contraception, sterilisation and the mentally ill: beyond Manicheanism, some reference points. Author: Lachaux B; Renaud V Source: EUROPEAN PSYCHIATRY. 1998;13 Suppl 3:125S-129S. Abstract: This article on contraception, sterilization, and the mentally ill opens by cautioning that the questions raised cannot simply be dealt with by condemning eugenics. Next, the essay points to reversibility as the essential difference between contraception and sterilization and to the fact that mentally ill women, rather than men, are almost always involved. The essay then reviews distinctions in the status of incapacity and discusses the questions of social consensus, indications, and patient autonomy. The essay continues by clarifying the distinction between individual autonomy and the social dimension of medicine (collective interest). The discussion then considers how physicians have played the principal role in raising the question of sexuality, procreation, and sterilization of the mentally ill and looks at the privileged position society affords physicians, how the doctor-patient relationship has evolved from dependence to partnership, and the role of medicine as a guarantor for fairness and freedom. The essay continues by reviewing the conditions that must be met before a mentally ill person can undergo sterilization and focusing on the problems involved with deciding when sterilization is indicated and how to gain a mentally ill patient's informed consent. The next sections discuss the indications for contraception and sterilization and the opinion of the French National Ethics Committee about which conditions must be met. The essay ends by mentioning the role of other interested parties. Language: English Keywords: FRANCE | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | ETHICS | EUGENICS | CONTRACEPTION | STERILIZATION, SEXUAL | MENTAL DISORDERS | MENTAL RETARDATION | PHYSICIANS | HUMAN RIGHTS | Europe, Western | Europe | Developed Countries | Genetics | Biology | Family Planning | Diseases | Intelligence | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Health Personnel | Delivery of Health Care | Health Document Number: 138448   |
| 26. Title: The Eugenics Society and the development of demography in Britain: the International Population Union, the British Population Society and the Population Investigation Committee. Author: Langford C Source: In: Essays in the history of eugenics, edited by Robert A. Peel. London, England, Galton Institute, 1998. :81-111. Abstract: This article traces the history of 3 demographic organizations in Great Britain, especially in the 1930s and 1940s, through the activities of the International Population Union (IPU), the British Population Society (BPS), and the Population Investigation Committee (PIC). Soloway (1990) and Szreter (1996) have described the influence of the Eugenics Society (ES) on official demographic statistics and studies. The IPU was set up in 1927, after a World Population Conference (WPC), which was organized by a US activist, Margaret Sanger. The IPU was located first at the Johns Hopkins University, and later in London. In 1947, the IPU became the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. Pre-1947, the IPU was composed of national committees. In 1928, the BPS was the British chapter of the IPU. The author identifies the members shared between BPS and ES among 1927 WPC participants. BP, with its 20-30 members, used the ES address and included ES members. PIC was set up as a research unit in 1936 by the ES. Nine of the 21 PIC members were ES members in 1937. PIC advised the General Register Office about official statistics. In 1944, the Royal Commission on Population, which included some PIC members but was competitive with PIC, conducted several family studies. PIC survived the war years with grants from ES. PIC conducted a 1946 socioeconomic survey of childbirth, which became the National Survey of Health and Development. PIC's emphasis on social class differences was directly influenced by eugenics beliefs about the less fit outbreeding the more fit. BPS was dissolved and its funds were absorbed by PIC after the war. Language: English Keywords: UNITED KINGDOM | LITERATURE REVIEW | HISTORICAL DEMOGRAPHY | EUGENICS | ORGANIZATIONS | POPULATION CONTROL | Developed Countries | Europe, Western | Europe | Demography | Social Sciences | Genetics | Biology | Population Policy | Social Policy | Policy Document Number: 136991   |
| 27. Title: From the case files: reconstructing a history of involuntary sterilisation. Author: Park DC; Radford JP Source: DISABILITY AND SOCIETY. 1998 Jun;13(3):317-42. Abstract: This article offers a history of involuntary sterilization during the period 1929-72 derived from case files of the Eugenics Board of the Canadian province of Alberta. The first part of the article describes the setting that led to the strengthening of the Alberta Sterilisation Act in 1937 in response to the emergence of proponents of sterilization to reduce the hereditary transmission of mental deficiency among unfit persons who were enjoying unprecedented survival rates due to the intervention of modern medicine. Next, the article describes the data gleaned from the case files and illustrates aggregate figures for sterilizations of "mental defectives" and "psychotic individuals" performed during 4-year time periods by sex. The article then uses data from the case files to consider 1) why more "mentally defective" than "psychotic" individuals were sterilized, 2) why more females than males were sterilized, and 3) why the program continued into the 1950s. The analysis is shown to reveal that the usual motivations for sterilization were 1) behavioral difficulties (abnormal sex behavior, abnormal/destructive behavior, or criminal tendencies); 2) loss of familial support due to parental death or abandonment, having a child out-of-wedlock, or being referred to a social service agencies; 3) being from an impoverished family; and 4) as a precondition to release from an institution or upon parental request. The conclusion discusses the implications of these findings and of involuntary sterilization policies in general. Language: English Keywords: CANADA | CASE STUDIES | HISTORICAL REVIEW | LEGISLATION | EUGENICS | STERILIZATION, SEXUAL | INVOLUNTARY FERTILITY CONTROL | HUMAN RIGHTS | MENTAL DISORDERS | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | North America, Northern | Americas | Developed Countries | Studies | Research Methodology | Genetics | Biology | Family Planning | Family Planning Policy | Population Policy | Social Policy | Policy | Diseases | Social Problems Document Number: 137315   |
| 28. Title: Essays in the history of eugenics: proceedings of a conference organised by the Galton Institute, London, 1997. Author: Peel RA Source: London, England, Galton Institute, 1998. xv, 233 p. Abstract: These are the proceedings of a conference devoted to the history and achievements of the Galton Institute, founded in 1907 as the Eugenics Education Society. The first three papers examine the development of the eugenics movement in the United Kingdom and its efforts to apply scientific ideas to the problems of society. Particular attention is given to the relationship between the eugenics and the birth control movements. The remainder of the papers examine the role of eugenics in the development of several disciplines, including demography, human genetics, psychometrics, and biometry. There are also two papers on eugenics in France and Scandinavia, and in the United States. Language: English Keywords: UNITED KINGDOM | CONFERENCES AND CONGRESSES | EUGENICS | FAMILY PLANNING | HISTORICAL REVIEW | INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES | Developed Countries | Europe, Western | Europe | Genetics | Biology Document Number: 257653   |
| 29. Title: [Births at the full moon and other demographic oddities] Les naissances de la pleine lune et autres curiosites demographiques. Author: Sandron F Source: Paris, France, L'Harmattan, 1998. 175 p. (Collection Populations) Abstract: In this work, which is designed for the general public, the author examines a number of broad demographic themes. These include the decline of fertility in Europe, polygamy in Africa, the limits on human life expectancy, differences in life expectancy by sex, the cycles and rhythms that affect births, natural fertility, Malthusianism, birth control, optimum population, and eugenics. (ANNOTATION) Language: French Keywords: GLOBAL | POPULATION DYNAMICS | FERTILITY DECLINE | EUROPE | AFRICA | POLYGAMY | LIFE EXPECTANCY | DIFFERENTIAL MORTALITY | SEX FACTORS | CYCLIC ANALYSIS | FERTILITY | NATURAL FERTILITY | FAMILY PLANNING | OPTIMUM POPULATION | EUGENICS | MALTHUSIANISM | Demographic Factors | Population | Fertility Changes | Developed Countries | Developing Countries | Marriage Patterns | Marriage | Nuptiality | Length of Life | Mortality | Population Characteristics | Research Methodology | Population Size | Genetics | Biology | Population Theory | Demography | Social Sciences Document Number: 257354   |
| 30. Title: Disability rights and selective abortion. Author: Saxton M Source: In: Abortion wars: a half century of struggle, 1950-2000, edited by Rickie Solinger. Berkeley, California, University of California Press, 1998. :374-93. Abstract: This essay, the 18th chapter in a book on the struggle over abortion in the US during the period 1950-2000, analyzes the intersection of the rights of the disabled and the rights of pregnant women to choose selective abortion because the resulting child would have disabilities. The essay opens by noting that use of technologies designed to eliminate births of disabled children have become commonplace just as disabled people have achieved social and legislative gains. Next, the reproductive rights movement is described as emphasizing the right to have an abortion, while the disability rights movement promotes the right to refuse an abortion. After a look at the effect of eugenics and the early birth control movement in the 19th century, the essay describes why disabled people today consider selective abortion "the new eugenics." The next two sections define the difficulty of the situation with a look at the mixed feelings apparent in the responses of disabled people to selective abortion and the pressure exerted on pregnant women to undergo prenatal diagnosis. The essay continues by relaying how the disabled community personifies disabled fetuses as "our people" and then looking at the connection between control (elimination) of "defective fetuses" and patriarchal control of women as producers of products. Next, the essay reiterates that disabled women have a legitimate voice in the abortion debate and suggests actions to help the reproductive rights movement gain clarity about these issues while supporting the rights of all women to control reproduction. Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | CRITIQUE | ABORTION | DISABLED PERSONS AND DISABILITIES | CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES | REPRODUCTION | HUMAN RIGHTS | ETHICS | EUGENICS | AMNIOCENTESIS | PATRIARCHY | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities | Diseases | Genetics | Biology | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Family Characteristics | Family and Household Document Number: 132301   Notification |
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