Passage of
Laws
There has never been a voluntary or compulsory sterilization law in Hawaii. The sterilization of feeble-minded and mentally ill individuals who were institutionalized was proposed in 1953 in House Bill 666, but this bill never passed (Paul, p. 565).
An editorial appeared in the Neuropsychiatric Aspects of Sterilization in 1944, stating that even without a sterilization law in Hawaii, a “decision as to what is best, not only for the individuals concerned, but for the nation and for the society in general” needed to be made (quoted in Paul, p. 567). The article then went on to state that “until such a decision is forthcoming from a proper authority, the ethical non-Catholic doctor, remembering that his fundamental mission is to relieve suffering and prolong life, must let his own conscience be his guide” (quoted in Paul, p. 567).
Groups
Targeted and
Victimized
It is believed that individuals in Hawaii were never forced to undergo sterilization. However, Dr. Nils P. Larsen, medical director of Queens Hospital, established a post-partum sterilization program the the pre-World War II period that applied to mothers of large families in Hawaii (Paul, p. 566). A 1950 report noted that "post-partum sterilization has been undertaken among rural uneducated women on a considerable scale" (quoted in Paul, p. 565). Dr. Larsen advocated that the criminally insane be sterilized, as well as those who are lepers, as noted by John Tayman in his study of the infamous leper colony there, Molokai (p. 239).
Tayman, John. 2007. The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai. New York: Scribner.