The government and state politicians in California admit that the forced sterilization of about 20,000 citizens between 1909 and 1963 should not have happened. The sterilizations were part of a state eugenics programme designed to prevent those identified as “feeble minded” or “defective” from having children. However, they are unwilling to authorize compensation or reparation for the victims. [CNN]
The story illustrates the problem with appeals to “the ethics of the profession” as grounds for refusing freedom of conscience to health care workers who do not accept currently popular or professional views of morality.