Documentary: The Sterilization of Leilani Muir

Question 1

Who is Leilani Muir?

Answer 1

Surgically sterilized Alberta resident.

Question 2

Can the sterilization be undone?

Answer 2

No.

Question 3

Sterilization was a practice that was highly illegal and conducted under the radar. True or false?

Answer 3

False. It was legislated.

Question 4

What does eugenics mean?

Answer 4

Well born.

Question 5

Galton decided that controlled breeding improves farm animals and plants…

Answer 5

So it should be applied to humans as well.

Question 6

The idea behind eugenics in Alberta was to prevent ___ people from breeding.

Answer 6

Inferior.

Question 7

What kinds of people were sterilized in Alberta?

Answer 7

Mentally defective, those with emotional problems, criminals, and the poor.

Question 8

Leilani Muir was rated to have the IQ of 64, and was labelled a…

Answer 8

Moron.

Question 9

Leilani Muir’s IQ always stayed the same. True or false?

Answer 9

False, it rose from 64 to 90-101.

Question 10

Who came up with the IQ test?

Answer 10

Alfred Binet.

Question 11

The IQ test was brought to America by ___.

Answer 11

Goddard.

Question 12

How was the IQ test perverted?

Answer 12

It became a hard heredity test to defend against “inferior breeding stock.”

Question 13

How were photographs altered to give the sterilized a different look?

Answer 13

They were made to look more sinister, or were given a blank gaze.

Question 14

Eugenicists believed that babies ___ their parents’ deficiencies.

Answer 14

Inherit.

Question 15

Most of the patients in the mental institutions were Canadians. True or false?

Answer 15

False, they were mostly from outside of the country.

Question 16

Which female figure was responsible for pushing ahead sterilization laws, after whom there is a park named in the Edmonton river valley?

Answer 16

Emily Murphy.

Question 17

The conflation of ___ and ___ led to sterilization laws.

Answer 17

Science, morality.

Question 18

What year did sexual sterilization become law?

Answer 18

1928.

Question 19

Was consent ever sought in sterilization cases?

Answer 19

Yes, in early years it was. However, punishment for not consenting was extraordinarily harsh.

Question 20

The eugenics board was made up of…

Answer 20

2 medical personnel and 2 laymen.

Question 21

What were the 2 questions asked by the eugenics board?

Answer 21

1. Would they make good parents?

2. Would they transmit biological defects?

Question 22

Testicular Biopsy

Answer 22

An especially harsh technique that came about when the government started sterilizing men with Down Syndrome, who are already sterile.

Question 23

When were sterilization laws repealed?

Answer 23

1972.

Question 24

Who repealed the sterilization laws?

Answer 24

Peter Lougheed.

Question 25

Do mentally deficient people put a significant strain on society?

Answer 25

No.

Question 26

Were supporters of sexual sterilization immoral?

Answer 26

No. It was unethical, but “the road to hell is paved by good people.”

Question 27

How many people were sterilized in total?

Answer 27

2822 people.

Question 28

What was the outcome of the Leilani Muir case?

Answer 28

Awarded close to 750 000 dollars.

Question 29

Did those that approved of eugenics repent?

Answer 29

Not really.

Question 30

What are the 2 schools of thought that emerge from things like eugenics or apartheid?

Answer 30

1. Moral.

2. Economic.