Bad Blood: Birth controlled

Discovery

BBC

Science

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 January 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Who should be prevented from having children? And who gets to decide? Across 20th century America, there was a battle to control birth - a battle which rages on to this day.

In 1907, the state of Indiana passed the first sterilisation law in the world. Government-run institutions were granted the power to sterilise those deemed degenerate - often against their will.

In the same period, women are becoming more educated, empowered and sexually liberated. In the Roaring Twenties, the flappers start dancing the Charleston and women win the right to vote.

But contraception is still illegal and utterly taboo. The pioneering campaigner Margaret Sanger, begins her decades long activism to secure women access to birth control - the only way, she argues, women can be truly free.

In the final part of the episode, sterilisation survivor and campaigner Elaine Riddick shares her painful but remarkable story.

Contributors: Professor Alexandra Minna Stern from the UCLA Institue of Society and Genetics, Professor Wendy Kline from Purdue Univerity, Elaine and Tony Riddick from the Rebecca Project for Justice

Featuring the voice of Joanna Monro

(Photo: Elaine Riddick was sterilised without her consent, when she was 14, in North Carolina. Credit: Tami Chappell/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself.
0:03.6	My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts.
0:08.4	I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with a leading journalist, experienced
0:12.2	pundits and the biggest sport stars.
0:14.3	Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the players'
0:18.5	mouths.
0:19.5	But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is our unique access to the sport world.
0:24.9	What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to
0:28.8	dedicated sports fans across the UK.
0:31.1	So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.
0:35.9	Love, Genessa, a brand new true crime podcast from the BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts,
0:42.4	exploring the world of online romance scams.
0:45.4	It's a story about love, deceit and survival and it's available now.
0:49.8	Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:52.9	This is Discovery from the BBC World Service.
0:55.4	I'm Adam Rutherford and you're listening to Bad Blood.
0:58.8	The story of Eugenics.
1:04.2	From the salons of Victorian Britain to the gates of Auschwitz, this is the story of an idea
1:10.8	which runs through some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century, an idea that echoes through
1:16.2	the decades and resonates today.
1:19.2	This is the story of Eugenics.
1:21.7	It's dark history and it's troubling present.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.