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Abstract
Abstract
In August 1997 newspapers all over Europe ‘discovered’ that Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Germany, France, Britain and the USA, if not others, had carried out thousands of sterilisations on eugenic grounds (mainly of women) from the 1920s until as late as the early 1960s and 70s in some cases. During that period, neither contraception, abortion nor sterilisation were legal except on very narrow grounds, if at all. The history of these policies has never been hidden; hence, the question of why it has become mainstream news in Europe this year is a relevant one. The commentary by Lena Lennerhed below offers an explanation. It is followed by a number of excerpts from articles published in major European newspapers, which came out soon after the initial story ‘broke’ in Sweden. These indicate that the news value of this history may be as ethically suspect as the ‘news’ itself.