With the popularity of Black Stork and the support of lawmakers, American citizens were ready to take the next step—to legislate forced sterilization. These procedures had the blessing not only of the medical and scientific communities, but also eventually of the United States Supreme Court. Eugenicists argued that the country would need to sterilize the lower 10 percent of the population and to continue to sterilize the lower 10 percent until the gene pool was pure.
History does not always make us feel proud of our nation.
