ID# 306:
Owen Adair letter to Oregon physicians, about bill requiring doctor's certification for marriage license
Date:
1921
Pages: (1|2)
Source:
American Philosophical Society, ERO, MSC77,SerX,Box3: Harry H. Laughlin

Owen Adair letter to Oregon physicians, about bill requiring doctor's certification for marriage license

An Appeal to the Physicians of Oregon I am asking you to indorse[sic] the measure which I am hoping the Legislature will refer to the people. I know that you are the most competent of all others to judge of the value of this bill - you who are daily coming in contact with disease and abnormalities that could be eradicated and should not be permitted to exist. My bill provides that every person applying for a marriage license must pass an examination for health and mentality. If one or both should fail to pass, then that one or both must be rendered sterile before that are permitted to marry. There can be no reason why the feeble minded (if immuned) should not marry. They are human and should have a home if they can provide for themselves and thousands could. Sterilization prevents the propagation of the unfit. It is a benign remedy and a blessing when properly applied. It protects the unfit from themselves as well as the public at large. I call upon all organizations whose object is for the uplift of humanity, to assist in this great movement for the protection of the unborn children upon whom we must depend for life of our nation. I believe that within ten years we shall have a federal law which will require every adult to pass a test for health and mentality. Then purifications will begin - the scum and slums will soon pass and in a few years our flying flag will float over the greatest nation the world has ever seen. May God help us to help ourselves for He has placed it within our power. Dr. Owen Adair State House, Salem, Oregon January 17 1921. Marion Hotel Salem, Oregon.

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