Equal Treatment for People with Mental Retardation : Having and Raising Children

Engaging in sex, becoming parents, raising children: these are among the most personal decisions we make, and for people with mental retardation, these decisions are consistently challenged, regulated, and outlawed. This book is a comprehensive study of the American legal doctrines and social policies, past and present, that have governed procreation and parenting by persons with mental retardation. It argues persuasively that people with retardation should have legal authority to make their own decisions. Despite the progress of the normalization movement, which has moved so many people with mental retardation into the mainstream since the 1960s, negative myths about reproduction and child rearing among this population persist. Martha Field and Valerie Sanchez trace these prejudices to the eugenics movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They show how misperceptions have led to inconsistent and discriminatory outcomes when third parties seek to make birth control or parenting decisions for people with mental retardation. They also explore the effect of these decisions on those they purport to protect. Detailed, thorough, and just, their book is a sustained argument for reform of the legal practices and social policies it describes. "Engaging in sex, becoming parents, raising children: these are among the most personal decisions we make, and for people with mental retardation, they have been consistently challenged, regulated, and outlawed. This book is a comprehensive study of the American legal doctrines and social policies, past and present, that have governed procreation and parenting by persons with mental retardation. It argues persuasively that persons with retardation should have legal authority to make their own decisions. Despite the progress of the normalization movement, which has moved so many people with mental retardation into the mainstream since the 1960s, negative myths about reproduction and child rearing among this population persist. Martha Field and Valerie Sanchez trace these prejudices to the eugenics movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They show how misperceptions have led to inconsistent and discriminatory outcomes when third parties seek to make birth control or parenting decisions for people with mental retardation. And they explore the effect of these decisions on those they purport to protect. Detailed, thorough, and just, their book is in effect a sustained legal argument for reform of the legal practices and social policies it describes" -- Dust jacket Annotation. Engaging in sex, becoming parents, raising children: these are among the most personal decisions we make, and for people with mental retardation, these decisions are consistently challenged, regulated, and outlawed. This book is a comprehensive study of the American legal doctrines and social policies, past and present, that have governed procreation and parenting by persons with mental retardation. It argues persuasively that people with retardation should have legal authority to make their own decisions. Despite the progress of the normalization movement, which has moved so many people with mental retardation into the mainstream since the 1960s, negative myths about reproduction and child rearing among this population persist. Martha Field and Valerie Sanchez trace these prejudices to the eugenics movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They show how misperceptions have led to inconsistent and discriminatory outcomes when third parties seek to make birth control or parenting decisions for people with mental retardation. They also explore the effect of these decisions on those they purport to protect. Detailed, thorough, and just, their book is a sustained argument for reform of the legal practices and social policies it describes Pt. I. Introduction. 1. Some Families. 2. Public Policy, Past And Present. 3. Who Are Called Retarded? -- Pt. Ii. Procreation. 4. Procreative Choice -- But Whose? 5. Evolution Of Policies Toward Sterilization. 6. Current Policy Issues Concerning Sterilization. 7. What Should The Standards For Sterilization Be? 8. Sex And Contraception. 9. The Limited Impact Of Guardianship. 10. The Peculiar Problem Of Abortion -- Pt. Iii. A Proposal For Self-determination. 11. Self-determination Explained And Evaluated. 12. Necessary Limitations On Self-determination. 13. The Possibility Of Varying The Rule -- Pt. Iv. Parenting. 14. Some Underlying Rules And Issues. 15. Written Law Concerning Parenting: Important Issues For Parents With Retardation. 16. The Social Welfare System In Practice. 17. Reforming The System. Martha A. Field, Valerie A. Sanchez. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 401-424) And Index. In a comprehensive study of the legal doctrines and social policies involved, Martha Field and Valerie Sanchez argue persuasively that persons with mental retardation should have legal authority to make their own decisions.