COERCIVE STERILIZATION AND MENTAL HANDICA P

Medical discourse on ''racial hygiene'' and the law on the prevention of hereditary disease in progeny passed in 1933 in Nazi Germany presen ts us the historical background to the topic. By analyzing six case hi stories from ''hereditary health'' court decisions during the years 19 42-45, we illuminate how the law of 1933 was applied in Austria. Comin g to the present, we put historical events into a more general perspec tive by reviewing recent debates and presenting a case history from to day. There are similarities between the past and present decisions reg arding carrying out sterilization of mentally handicapped persons, but the justification given for doing so has changed. The argument of tod ay ''protection of the individual'' supplants ''racial hygiene''.