Direct Sterilization of Students at the Laconia State School in New Hampshire: A Chapter in the History of Bioethics.

Sterilizations sponsored and coerced by the state occurred at the Laconia State School in New Hampshire for decades as part of the American eugenics movement in the early twentieth century. The context of that movement is summarized, the case of the Laconia State School is presented, and arguments are offered to explain the immorality of the affair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]