Curious about Swedish Sterilisation Programme

vorbis

At lunch today, a colleague said that the Swedes sterilised handicapped people before. We thought he was taking the piss. However it appears to be true.
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/61b/045.html
There loads of assorted links you can get through google about it. Just wondering if anyone knows what the generally accepted view is about this. Was it really as NAZI sounding as made out?

gom

Yeah. It is true all right.
I lived in Stockholm, Sweden in my early teens for a year. It was an eye opening experience and I learned alot about how culturally and socially strange sweden is.
While everyone including myself are obsessed with the excellent social fabric in Sweden and Scandinavia there is a shocking underbelly to this society.

Forced Sterilisation is one of those Utilitarian ideals that were present in Sweden. The strange thing is that many people in modern Sweden (that I have met anyway) seem to think that Forced sterilisation is a much more humane practice than say abortion or adoption...
While I was there aged 13 had a somewhat right wing(socially right) view of the world and seen as I was no capper agreed whole heartedly with this.

I have to say that I'm shocked today that many of my Swedish friends whom are all hippies actually still agree with this policy. Not only am I ashamed with myself for thinking it a good idea 10 years ago. But that it continued into the 70s???

Mind you. We do have Sypoistomy(spelling) still being encouraged here..

briano

Whats that now? Septostomy ?

The Corinthian

So why is it such a bad idea then?

Sparks

Originally posted by The Corinthian
So why is it such a bad idea then?

Because it can leave the woman with permanent pelvic problems to the point where she can no longer walk without pain?

The Corinthian

Originally posted by Sparks
Because it can leave the woman with permanent pelvic problems to the point where she can no longer walk without pain?

No, silly, I meant compulsory sterilization of the handicapped.

Sparks

Originally posted by The Corinthian
No, silly, I meant compulsory sterilization of the handicapped.

Ah, right, my bad.

AngelofFire

That type of thing is a gross restriction of liberties,futhermore it has its roots in nazism.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by AngelofFire
That type of thing is a gross restriction of liberties,

For a start, many handicapped, specifically mentally handicapped, have their liberty restricted already as they suffer from diminished responsibility.

futhermore it has its roots in nazism.

Actually, it has its roots in the US.

AngelofFire

Originally posted by The Corinthian
For a start, many handicapped, specifically mentally handicapped, have their liberty restricted already as they suffer from diminished responsibility.

I take offense to that as i have a handicapped brother who has developed a sense of dignity and individuality.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by AngelofFire
I take offense to that as i have a handicapped brother who has developed a sense of dignity and individuality.

It would depend on the nature of your brother's handicap, however if it is (as I put forward as my example) a mental handicap, such as Down syndrome, then legally he would almost certainly be seen as having diminished responsibility. As such he does not share the same rights as non-handicapped individuals and would remain a ward of either a family member or the State for the rest of his life.

If you are offended at that, I sympathise, but that’s life. I recommend that you deal with it.

AngelofFire

It would serve a country better to develop proper facilities and remove arbitary restrictions that prevent special needs people from contributing to society a lot of handicapped people can work certain jobs, if given the opportunity,my brother earns a good living working for the easons group.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by AngelofFire
It would serve a country better to develop proper facilities and remove arbitary restrictions that prevent special needs people from contributing to society a lot of handicapped people can work certain jobs, if given the opportunity,my brother earns a good living working for the easons group.

I will not comment on your bother, however many of these ‘arbitrary restrictions’ are hardly unfounded. A Down syndrome subject, for example, may be able to work certain jobs, but that hardly makes them self sufficient either financially or psychologically - hence the restrictions to their freedom, in that they are permanently wards of either family or the State. No level of ‘proper facilities’ is going to change that. Again, that’s life.

spongebob

Originally posted by The Corinthian
Actually, it has its roots in the US.

It was a logical progression from Darwinism. After Darwinism essentially proved the theory of Natural Selection in the latter half of the 19th century it was but a small step for some to conclude that they could Manage this process somehow. Lets call it man made selection or Eugenics as it was generically known. Sterilisation was part of the program but there were other selection mechanisms too.

From that came Eugenics . Eugenics were big in the period after WW1 in particular and the philospohy was widespread. Marie Stopes (she of the clinics) was a big advocate , her clinics were there to reduce the fertility of the greater unwashed rather than the middle classes.

The 1920's in particular saw the peak of the philosophy .

Eugenics were taken to their most extreme historical form by the Nazis when they sought to liquidate Handicapped people as well as the Gypsies and the Jews. .

Not surprisingly it didn't make a comeback after WW2 until the 1990s when the Life Insurance industry took an unhealthy interest in the Human Genome ......for actuarial reasons only........of course :ninja: . Then there are those sperm banks where your IQ is measured before you donate.

M