SkipCaptcha
35,519
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 11:
Line 11: − + +
Birth control and racism (view source)
Revision as of 17:03, December 12, 2022
, 17:03, December 12, 2022→Eugenics in Oregon, 1920s–40s
{{cquote|Pierce, during his term as governor, signed a bill "allowing the sterilization of the feebleminded and the criminally insane in state institutions." ... Pierce "took pleasure" in signing what he described as "the first really effective law in the United States on sterilization."|||McCoy, "The Paradox of Oregon's Progressive Politics," p. 410.}}
{{cquote|Pierce, during his term as governor, signed a bill "allowing the sterilization of the feebleminded and the criminally insane in state institutions." ... Pierce "took pleasure" in signing what he described as "the first really effective law in the United States on sterilization."|||McCoy, "The Paradox of Oregon's Progressive Politics," p. 410.}}
Pierce's eugenic advocacy was further motivated by the activism of his third wife Cornelia, who along with Bethine Owens-Adair supported the 1923 sterilization bill.<ref name=mccoy,p.410/> When he was later elected to the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from the state's 2nd congressional district, Pierce introduced legislation to permit the dissemination of contraception literature via mail; such efforts to modify the Comstock Act were praised by [[Margaret Sanger]].
Pierce's eugenic advocacy was further motivated by the activism of his third wife Cornelia, who along with Bethine Owens-Adair supported the 1923 sterilization bill.<ref name=mccoy,p.410/> When he was later elected to the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from the state's 2nd congressional district, Pierce introduced legislation to permit the dissemination of contraception literature via mail; such efforts to modify the Comstock Act were praised by [[Margaret Sanger]]. McCoy states of the Pierces' motives:<ref>"The Paradox of Oregon's Progressive Politics," p. 411.</ref>
{{cquote|Both Cornelia and Walter advocated for sterilization of the unfit and the creation of a fit white race through birth control. Both sides of eugenics rest on the premise that only those deemed fit to propagate the race should be allowed to live or procreate. Unlike the radical democratic populism that Pierce backed through most of his life, his adherence to the tenets of eugenics exposed a side of politics that elevated certain groups into a position of political and economic power based on their race and physical capabilities.|||McCoy, "The Paradox of Oregon's Progressive Politics," p. 411}}
==References==
==References==