Citation

Cairney R. CMAJ 1996; 155(6): 789-792.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Canadian Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8823227

PMCID

PMC1335257

Abstract

An Alberta woman recently won a lawsuit against the government of Alberta for wrongful sterilization that took place when she was a 14-year-old ward at the Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives. It was the first time the province has been held accountable for actions taken under the Sexual Sterilization Act, a 1927 law that promoted the theory of eugenics and led to the sterilization of more than 2800 people. It has since been repealed. A physician who served on the province's Eugenics Board said the decisions were based on the best scientific advice and medical techniques available at the time. Today, she added, eugenics is being practised in a different way through prenatal diagnosis and therapeutic abortion.

Language: en