The Story of Different Minds  ·  Buck v Bell

Forced Sterilisation

How law and medicine combined to remove reproductive rights.

The state claimed power over who could have children.

Simple version

Forced sterilisation was justified through ideas of defect, heredity, morality and public good.

Why it matters

It targeted people with little power to resist, often women, disabled people, poor people and racialised communities.

Awareverse lens

Awareverse sees this as a warning about what happens when systems decide some people are less entitled to a future.

Question to ask

When looking at forced sterilisation, ask: who had power, who was being labelled, and what would have changed if the human being had been seen first?

Other topics from this chapter