Varför sterilisera? En komparativ studie av fortplantningshindrande åtgärder mot sinnessjuka m.fl. i Sverige och Danmark

Sammanfattning

Sterilisation was permitted by law for the first time in both Sweden and Den-mark during the early 20th century. Before that, the medical marriage impediment was the main arrangement made in the respective countries to inhibit reproduction amongst certain groups. This essay’s purpose is to clarify the motives behind the implementation of sterilisation as a reproduction inhibiting measure. The legal historical method, in combination with the legal dogmatic method, has been used to map out the legislative chain and the contents of the laws from the early 1900-hundreds. The historical material has been used as the basis of the comparative analysis with the aim of finding similarities or differences in the reasonings behind the laws. The introduction of sterilisation in law was in Sweden considered an additional measure taken to ensure the full effect of the medical marriage impediment. In Denmark, on the other hand, legalising sterilisation was mainly argued to be an effective tool for crime prevention. Despite the difference in political arguments the laws ended up with strikingly similar wording and purposes. The tendency to find inspiration in the neighbouring countries legislative solutions can be related back to the extensive Nordic legislative cooperative work which, amongst other things, reformed marriage law in the Nordic countries. Both the medical marriage impediment and the sterilisation was targeting the same group of persons and focused primarily on institutionalized people. Institutionalisation was considered the primary solution for a range of different problems but was financially demanding for the states to uphold. Aside from the economic motive, the laws were primarily motivated by eugenic and social reasonings. The social reasonings were founded on ideas of a creating a better future through eugenic methods. The medical marriage impediment and the sterilisation became tools which the governments used to tackle the widespread societal problems that were considered preventing the countries from becoming welfare states. The ambition to evolve was done on the expense of the groups of people which according to the laws were substandard and burdensome to society.