The Catholic Church is not averse to selective breeding' when the selection of partners is a prudent one on the part of the lemselves nor does she advise a marriage in any way dangerous to the "children to come." But in the eyes of the Church sterilization is inadmissible because by it the State which imposes it, as well as the individual who demands accepts it, assume to themselves Tights which they do not possess; Man is a creature and as such the welfare of society is above that of the individual. And yet' they do not seem to be able to see that the very thing they are advocating so strongly is itself a very anti-social act. Take for example an individual ith hereditary epilepsy. Suppose that this man marri and has ten children. Seven of his children have every chance of being uncontaminated and only three contaminated. In virtue of what reasoning will you say that it is; preferable, for sàeiety to renounce the benefit of having seven subjects that are healthy in not to-be burdened with three that are unhealthy Even if sterilization could Be realized in the so-called ideal proportions that its advocates desire, what would be the results? The answer to this question we must seek from science and not from political or sociological passion. Mr. J.B.S. Haldane, eminent British biologist and professor of Genetics, say: "A law to sterilize all mental defectives would certainly not abolish mental defects in one genera. tion, nor in one hundred generations. The Journal of the American Medical ion for May 12, 1935 assures 'The laws governing human heredity, especially of mental traits', are unfortunately unknown. If every defective in existence a generation ago had been sterilized, the number of defectives today would not be appreciable diminished."
When we consider the ethical-factors, then we must admit that sterilization results in the destruction of man's right to corporal integrity, to liberty, to life itself. And it is on these grounds mainly that the Catholic Church takes up weapons against this evil. In the words of the en-cynical of Pius XI on "Christian Marriage "Those who act in this way are at fault in losing sight of the fact that the family is more sacred than the State and that men are begotten not for the earth and for time, but for heaven and eternity. Although often these individuals are to be dissuaded from entering into matrimony, certainly it is wrong to brand men with the stigma of crime reason for excusing in any way the direct murder of the innocent?
This is precisely what we are dealing with here" (so-called medical, social or eugenic indication'). "Whether inflicted. on the mother or upon the child it is against the precept of God and the law of nature: "Thou shalt not kill.' The life of each acd, and no ona has the power, nct even the public authority, to destroy iL...If the public magistrates not only do not defend them (the innocent), but by their laws and ordinances betray them to death at the hands of the doctors and others, let them remember that God is the judge and avenger of innocent blood which cries out from earth to heaven. (Genesis 4/16)." because they contract marriage, on the ground that, despite the fact that they are in every respect capable of matrimony, they will give birth to defective children, even though they use all care and diligence." But the Church is not merely content with proclaiming against the abuse. She also proposes sane methods of remedying the abuse which the sterilizationists say they are trying to remedy. The Church does not despise the laws of heredity, but she places them in their Proper' perspective and realizes that environment has perhaps more influence upon society than heredity. She firmly believes that many individuals are born into the world
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.