Sterilization Law

Alberta

The Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928:

Established a provincial eugenics program that permitted the sterilization of individuals labelled “mentally defective,” reflecting the belief that social and intellectual problems were hereditary and could be prevented through controlled reproduction (Park & Radford, 320). The legislation created a four-member Eugenics Board with the authority to examine institutionalized individuals and authorize sterilization when reproduction was considered a social risk, framing the procedure as a preventative medical measure rather than punishment (Park & Radford, 320). The Act operated from 1928 until 1972 and aimed to control population “breeding” in order to reduce the perceived spread of feeble-mindedness within society (Muir, 57–58). Amendments introduced in 1937 expanded the Board’s authority by removing the requirement for patient or parental consent, demonstrating growing medical and political acceptance of state intervention in reproduction as a means of social protection and population improvement (Park & Radford, 319). Supported by mental hygiene advocates and institutional welfare systems, sterilization became embedded within provincial social policy and disproportionately affected vulnerable institutionalized populations (Park & Radford, 323). Over the course of the program, more than 2,800 Albertans were sterilized before the legislation was repealed in 1972, illustrating the persistence of eugenic ideology in Alberta despite increasing criticism both within Canada and internationally (Grekul, 248).

The political influences:

Crucial to the eugenics movement in Alberta was the rise of the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) government in 1921. In particular, the United Farm Women of Alberta played an important role in promoting social reform initiatives, including public health and moral regulation, and were influential in the campaign supporting sterilization legislation (Nind, 542–543). Reformers associated with the UFA increasingly embraced professional expertise and scientific management as solutions to social problems, which helped legitimize eugenics as a modern and rational policy approach (Nind, 540, 542). The most significant outcome of these influences was the Sexual Sterilization Act in 1928, which made Alberta the first province in Canada  to authorize compulsory sterilization through legislation (Nind, 537). The Act created a Eugenics Board empowered to approve sterilizations of institutionalized individuals believed likely to transmit mental disability to future generations (Nind, 537).

Reason for the support of the bill:

Several interconnected factors explain why the UFA government adopted the sterilization policy. One main reason is that UFA political leaders promoted eugenic reform. Influential figures like Health Minister George Hoadley and Cabinet member Irene Parlby supported sterilization. They argued the state had a duty to protect society from the supposed dangers of mental deficiency (McLaren, 100; Nind, 550). These policies reflected wider Canadian eugenic thinking. Many framed social problems, such as poverty, crime, and illness, as hereditary issues, not environmental ones (McLaren, 8–10).

Sources

Grekul, Jana. “Sterilization in Alberta, 1928 to 1972: Gender Matters.” The Canadian Review of Sociology [Malden, USA], vol. 45, no. 3, 2008, pp. 247–66.

Park, Deborah C, And John P Radford. “From the Case Files: Reconstructing a History of Involuntary Sterilisation.” Disability & Society [ABINGDON], vol. 13, no. 3, 1998, pp. 317–42.

Muir, Leilani. A Whisper Past: Childless after Eugenic Sterilization in Alberta. FriesenPress, 2014. Google Play Books.

McLaren, Angus. Our Own Master Race : Eugenics in Canada, 1885-1945. University of Toronto Press, 2014, https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442623316.

Nind, A. N. (2000). Solving an “appalling” problem: Social reformers and the campaign for the Alberta ‘Sexual Sterilization Act’, 1928. Alberta Law Review, 38(2), 536–562. https://doi.org/10.29173/alr1444

Living Archives on Eugenics in Western Canada. United Farm Women of Alberta Campaigns for Eugenic Sterilization. Eugenics Archive,
https://www.eugenicsarchive.ca/timeline?id=5172b967eed5c6000000001a

 

British Columbia

Following Alberta’s example, British Columbia introduced its own Sexual Sterilization Act in 1933, allowing the sterilization of individuals diagnosed as “mentally retarded” or “mentally ill” as part of a broader eugenics movement in Canada. Like Alberta’s program, the legislation was based on the belief that heredity was responsible for social problems and that preventing certain people from reproducing would protect society. However, the scale of sterilization in British Columbia was significantly smaller, with records indicating that only sixty-four individuals were sterilized at the Essondale facility, the majority of whom were women (Park & Radford, 318). These policies reflected similar assumptions about disability, social deviance, and state responsibility for regulating reproduction during the early twentieth century (Park & Radford, 318).

Sources

Park, Deborah C, And John P Radford. “From the Case Files: Reconstructing a History of Involuntary Sterilisation.” Disability & Society [ABINGDON], vol. 13, no. 3, 1998, pp. 317–42, https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599826669.