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Necessary Lies
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2. Reasons in book for support of the Eugenics Sterilization Program. Discuss.
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Carol
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Jun 24, 2017 08:29AM
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This is so hard because what's best for the people of a state as a whole, might be in direct opposition to what's best for one person. Was it good that Mary Ella was sterilized? Well - in many ways it was good for the state as a whole. She didn't take good care of William and there seemed to be little doubt that she would live her life collecting welfare. Should the people of a state have to pay to support as many children as woman decides to have - just so she can have as many children as she wants? It was sad for Mary Ella, but I can see why "the state" wanted it to be done. Ivy, on the other hand, went on to be able to support her children very well. But just looking from the outside, it might look like she was as poor a prospective mother as her sister was.
Amen to all the comments - love (and agree with) your thoughts!
Cindy stated it well. It seems like it would be great for the state, since there are so many financial, psychological, social, and physical problems that arise from living in various forms of poverty, both for those individuals and for the population as a whole. Regardless of the reason, though, it raises a whole lot of moral issues. Who gets to decide who is a fit parent? It would be so easy for this to very quickly be controlled by a certain ideology. It also doesn't allow for people to be able to improve; becoming a "fit" parent where they were once considered "unfit."
You're exactly correct, Angela. This is why the book was so good, right? I love books that make us see both sides.
I could totally see both sides while reading this. Pro sterilize - IQ of under 70, they are not capable of understanding how they get pregnant and if they do, someone else needs to help raise the child. And usually this happens when the low intelligence person isn't married (Mary Ella is a great example of all of these!) . Epilepsy, could pass genes onto child and continue the seizures. Poor, more money feeding these people from the state. The age plus child formula was interesting to me, but shows they are having too many kids while the parent is still young and more could follow. I could see the beneficial thing for a lot of these, but the fact that it takes away human rights makes it a bad practice. Both Mary Ella and Ivy wanted lots of kids, and I don't think it's anyone's right to take that away from them, despite all their factors above that applied to them. I think they just needed more education and parental guidance (that one was not their fault). Like Ivy "pulling out" vs wearing the condom. If she had been taught that babies still happen with that, maybe she would have made a different choice. I was fascinated that I could argue both sides though. That rarely happens! I liked that the state wasn't the "bad guy" the whole book because we could see the benefits that the sterilization would provide.
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When the procedure was possibly necessary, They told her she had her appendicitis taken out and she constantly dreamed about having children. There was a tangled web of lies that the social workers told Mary Ella and Ivy. The lies might have been necessary because Mary Ella didn't have a good reaction to the truth.
Did anyone else read the prequel story: "The First Lie"? It told the story of the night Mary Ella had William. It was interesting.
I did, I did Cindy! It was interesting! The game Henry Allen and Ivy played freaked me out. Saying that Mary Ella would have 0 kids. Creepy!
