Social Dangers in Vasectomy.—It has been urged against vasectomy that it will work untold harm because it relieves of the responsibility of a probable parentage. This argument does not appeal to one as very weighty as far as the imbecile or other degenerate is concerned, because one of the very traits characteristic of such individuals is lack of any sense of responsibility. By this same token, however, we have a very good argument for sequestration as against sterilization, for the degenerate, even though sterilized, will not be restrained sexually and will be likely to disseminate venereal diseases or commit rape. Furthermore, there will be the temptation to sterilize and liberate certain types that would otherwise have been kept permanently in custody.
Our Present Knowledge Insufficient.—When all is said and done, after we take into account the meagerness of our present knowledge on the subject, it is not to be wondered at that many thoughtful students of a conservative turn of mind, feel that any considerable practise of sterilization is premature. The problem has so many phases, and despite occasional bits of positive knowledge, we are yet in such a sea of ignorance regarding it, that in no field is the good Friar Laurence’s admonition of “wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast,” needed more at present than it is here.
There is little doubt that in theory the feeble-minded and similar defectives should be sent to institutions and kept there, but the important practical question is, can this be done? We can have no final answer until it is tried. While the initial expense would undoubtedly be great, if we could keep our defectives from propagation for a single generation we could very materially lessen their numbers and in succeeding generations the expenses of their care would rapidly diminish.
The one crying need that stands out most prominently in this whole field is that of careful investigation of individual cases and specific types of malady, together with an accurate census of conditions as a whole. Our knowledge of individual malign heredities is too meager to carry us very far at present. When we have found after adequate investigation in just which specific types of defects heredity is an important factor—and we shall undoubtedly find it to be one in many cases—then we can proceed confidently with sterilization, if it will prove to be more practical and desirable than sequestration.
Sterilization Laws on Trial.—It will be of great interest and instruction to see how extensively, in the various states which have recently passed sterilization laws, the experts selected will find it expedient to carry on sterilization, and what criteria they will use in deciding on individual cases. That sterilization can be put into effect is indisputable, as may be seen from the fact that several hundred operations have been performed in Indiana. If the board on whom the decision depends happens to be one which feels that many people are likely to distress themselves unduly over the border-line cases, and overlook the fact that there is always a goodly residue with which to proceed without great risk of mistake, then we may expect to see a vigorous campaign inaugurated, and those of us who are still undecided in the matter will have an opportunity of learning more certainly the merits or the failings of the scheme.
Certain married degenerate types would seem to be the ones most urgently demanding attention. Having already begotten several defective children and with nothing else in prospect but the production of the same kind, it is difficult to see from any standpoint why a vasectomy on the male would not be a merciful act. There are not a few such families where the father is periodically in the hands of the law and yet not in permanent restraint. Once in custody his release could be made contingent on vasectomy.
An Educated Public Sentiment the Most Valuable Eugenic Agent.—Coming now to the last proposition, education of the public in the principles of eugenics, this is the method calculated to be of more far-reaching service than any other, in the negative as well as in the positive phases of eugenics. Education is necessary before we can have effective restrictive measures for the mentally incompetent established and enforced, and it is also a prerequisite to intelligent procedure on the part of normal individuals in considering their own fitness for marriage.
Of greatest importance in preventing undesirable marriages, as far as people of normal intelligence is concerned, will be the sentiment of disapproval which will arise on the part of society itself when it becomes really convinced that certain marriages are inimical to social welfare. Public opinion is, in fact, one of the most potent influences in marital affairs, simply because refusal to abide by the dictates of the community means social ostracism.
That social disapproval of certain unions can become a very real factor in preventing such marriage is evinced on all sides by the numerous barriers to marriage already in existence based on race, religious sect or social status. Even in our much vaunted democracies one is looked down on who marries “beneath” his or her social set. This sentiment of taboo, so readily and often so senselessly cultivated in our present human society, will inevitably spring up in consequence of a wide-spread knowledge of the facts of human heredity. It is to such a growth, to the establishment of a disapproval which is the product of its own sentiments rather than to legislative enactments, that society must look for the greatest furtherance of the eugenic program.
Necessary as legal restraint is in certain cases, it must obviously be restricted to only the most glaring defects. Moreover, legislation can not run far in advance of public opinion.