Eugenics in California: A Legacy of the Past? | Center for …

A free event open to the public, Eugenics in California: a Legacy of thePast?, will take place at the Berkeley Law School on the UC Berkeleycampus (105 Boalt Hall) on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 from 12:30 to 2 pm.

For much of the 20th century, California was at the forefront of eugenicideology and practices in the United States, and holds the dubiousdistinction of being the state with the highest number of eugenicsterilizations performed under the authority of law some 20,000procedures between 1909 and the mid-1950s. Coerced sterilizationscontinued in public hospitals into the 1970s, and it has recently come tolight that in very recent years, women prisoners in California have beensterilized without their consent or knowledge. Today, California is aleader in research and services related to human genomics and assistedreproductive technologies. Speakers at this public event will consider thelong history of eugenics in California and explore continuities anddiscontinuities in the uses and misuses of genetic ideas and practices.

Dean Christopher Edley, Berkeley School of Law, will give opening remarksto welcome attendees.

SPEAKERS:

"Eugenic Sterilization in California: Stories and Statistics" Miroslava Chvez-Garca, University of California at Davis, and AlexandraMinna Stern, University of Michigan

We provide an overview of the patterns of the 20,000 eugenic sterilizationsperformed in California state institutions from 1909 to 1979, with closeattention to race, gender, class, and diagnosis. We will also highlightstories of sterilization victims and the ways in which they attempted tochallenge the state's authority to control and contain their reproductiverights. As we will demonstrate, the process had a devastating impact onthe victims.

Ms Bebs? (documentary film) Renee Tajima-Pea, University of California at Santa Cruz; Virginia Espino,University of California at Santa Cruz, and Kate Trumbull, documentaryfilmmaker

The feature-length documentary Ms Bebs? (working title) investigatesthe history of Mexican American women who allege they were coercivelysterilized at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center during the 1960s and70s. Many spoke no English, and testified that they were prodded intotubal ligations during active labor. The sterilizations triggered the1978 class action lawsuit, Madrigal v. Quilligan, and a protest campaignthat galvanized the Chicana feminist movement.

Eugenics in California Womens Prisons Today Kimberly Jeffrey and Courtney Hooks, Justice Now

Since 2003, Justice Now has been working collaboratively with people inCalifornias womens prisons to document how prisons violate theinternational right to family and function as a tool of reproductiveoppression. Presenters will place a spotlight on personal experience withas well as the systemic pattern of destruction of reproductive capacity ofwomen of color and gender variant people in California womens prisonsthrough several state-sanctioned policies, including forced and coercedsterilizations (e.g. the illegal and routine sterilization of hundreds ofpeople in prison during labor and delivery), and other violations of safemotherhood and reproductive justice.

Should We Worry About a New Eugenics? Marcy Darnovsky, Center for Genetics and Society

Today's fast-developing genetic and reproductive technologies offersignificant benefits, but can also be misused in ways that exacerbateexisting inequalities and create entirely new forms of injustice. California, a hotbed of eugenic advocacy in the last century, is today acenter of biotechnology research and commercial development and theassisted reproduction sector, as well as home to some troublingtechno-enthusiastic ideologies. Our efforts to confront California'seugenic history can help prevent these dynamics from veering toward a neweugenics.

CONTACTS: Susan Schweik, UC Berkeley, sschweik@berkeley.edu, MarcyDarnovsky, Center for Genetics and Society,darnovsky@geneticsandsociety.org

Co-sponsored by the Center for Genetics and Society and U.C. BerkeleysHaas Diversity Research Center, School of Law, Institute for the Study ofSocietal Issues, American Cultures Center, Disability Studies program,Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, and Center for Race and Gender.

This event is wheelchair accessible. Captioning will be provided. Torequest an accommodation, please email disability@berkeley.edu.

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