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Journal Article

"Democracy was never intended for degenerates": Alberta's flirtation with eugenics comes back to haunt it

R. Cairney
CMAJ September 15, 1996 155 (6) 789-792;
R. Cairney
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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 It has since been repealed.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.

  • Copyright © 1996 by Canadian Medical Association
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CMAJ
Vol. 155, Issue 6
15 Sep 1996
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"Democracy was never intended for degenerates": Alberta's flirtation with eugenics comes back to haunt it
R. Cairney
CMAJ Sep 1996, 155 (6) 789-792;

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"Democracy was never intended for degenerates": Alberta's flirtation with eugenics comes back to haunt it
R. Cairney
CMAJ Sep 1996, 155 (6) 789-792;
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Copyright 2021, Joule Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

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