Effects of Eugenic Sterilization As Practiced in California
1. One effect only - it prevents parenthood.
2. It in no way unsexes the patient.
3. It is a protection, not a punishment; it therefore carries no stigma or humiliation.
4. It is approved by the patients who have been sterilized.
5. It is approved by their families and friends.
6. It is approved by the medical staff, social workers, probation and parole officers who have come in contact with the 8,506 patients sterilized in the last 25 years and up to January 1, 1933.
7. It permits many patients to return to their homes, who would otherwise be confined in institutions for years. It thus keeps homes together and prevents the break-up of families.
8. It protects children from being born to be brought up by mentally diseased or mentally deficient parents or by the state.
9. It takes a great burden of expense off the taxpayers, and enables the state to care for many more patients than would otherwise be possible.
10. It has been followed by a marked decrease in sex offenses.
11. It enables many handicapped persons to marry and to have a life normal in most respects, who without sterilization could not be allowed to marry.
12. It is a practical and necessary step to prevent racial deterioration.
The Human Betterment Foundation
321 Pacific Southwest Building
Pasadena, California
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