University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa – “These Evil Products”: The Consideration of Reproductive Sterilization for those Deemed Disabled in Hawai‛i

Join zoom here at 2pm PST

Presenter: Dr. Rebecca Stotzer

Scholarly works have focused on the ways that forced sterilization was deployed against racial/ethnic minority women in various states, such as California, North Carolina, and among Native American communities. However, little research has examined the ways that sterilization was conceived of as a tool for controlling people with disabilities in Hawai’i.This talk explores some of the hidden history of Hawai’i, focusing on various policy debates that explored the possibility of legislating mechanisms to reproductively sterilize people with disabilities in the Territory, and later State, of Hawai’i. While mandatory sterilization laws were never passed into law, examining the narratives around each of these public debates showcases intriguing intersections with gender, race/ethnicity,colonial power, and the power of pseudoscience. In particular, this talk will examine the different ways that rights were conceptualized during each of these policy debates, and how various rights were conceptualized and/or prioritized.

For any accommodation questions, please contact Juliann Anesi at anesi@hawaii.edu.