Compulsory sterilisation in Sweden.

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8704792 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0269-9702 (Print) Linking ISSN: 02699702 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Bioethics

Publication: Oxford : Wiley-Blackwell
Original Publication: Oxford ; New York : Basil Blackwell, c1987-

Coercion* ; Disabled Persons* ; Ethics* ; Eugenics* ; Freedom* ; Human Rights* ; Mental Competency* ; Personal Autonomy* ; Public Policy* ; Reproduction* ; Sterilization, Involuntary*; Abortion, Eugenic ; Child ; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities ; Euthanasia ; Genetic Diseases, Inborn ; Government Regulation ; History ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Mandatory Programs ; Mass Media ; Paternalism ; Persons with Mental Disabilities ; Politics ; Prejudice ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Quality of Life ; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ; Social Control, Formal ; Sterilization, Reproductive ; Stress, Psychological ; Sweden ; Third-Party Consent ; Value of Life ; Wedge Argument

In the Fall of 1997 the leading Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, created a media hype over the Swedish policy of compulsory sterilisation that had been in operation between 1935 and 1975. In the discussion that followed, the moral condemnation of our medical past was unanimous. However, the reasons for rejecting what had gone on were varied and mutually inconsistent. Three strands of criticism were common: the argument from autonomy, the argument from caution, and the argument from biological scepticism. In the paper it is argued that what point of departure you choose in your criticism of the past should be of consequence also for your ideas about present and future medical practice. In particular, if you rely on the argument from autonomy, you should be prepared to accept a liberal (present and future) use of reproductive techniques.

Indexing Agency: KIE Local ID #: 58892.
Keywords: Analytical Approach; Genetics and Reproduction
Note: 1 fn. Note: KIE BoB Subject Heading: eugenics Note: KIE BoB Subject Heading: reproduction Note: KIE BoB Subject Heading: sterilization

Date Created: 20011020 Date Completed: 19990104 Latest Revision: 20201208

20231215

10.1111/1467-8519.00110

11656691