Having reached this point in the discussion of restrictive eugenics, it may be profitable to consider the so-called "eugenic laws" which have been before the public in many states during recent years. They are one of the first manifestations of an awakening public conscience on the subject of eugenics; they show that the public, or part of it, feels the necessity of action; they equally show that the principles which should guide restrictive eugenics are not properly understood by most of those who have interested themselves in the legislative side of the program.
Twelve states now have laws on their statute books (but usually not in force) providing for the sterilization of certain classes of individuals. Similar laws have been passed in a number of other states, but were vetoed by the governors; while in many others bills have been introduced but not passed. We shall review only the bills which are actually on the statute books in 1916, and shall not attempt to detail all the provisions of them, but shall consider only the means by which they propose to attain a eugenic end.
The state of Indiana allows the sterilization of all inmates of state institutions, deemed by a commission of three surgeons to be unimprovable physically or mentally, and unfit for procreation. The object is purely eugenic. After a few hundred operations had been performed in Jeffersonville reformatory, the law aroused the hostility of Governor Thomas R. Marshall, who succeeded in preventing its enforcement; since 1913 we believe it has not been in effect. It is defectively drawn in some ways, particularly because it includes those who will be kept in custody for life, and who are therefore not proper objects of sterilization.