Dutch report: boys castrated in Catholic psychiatric institutes in 1950s
CWN - March 20, 2012
At least ten minors were castrated in Catholic psychiatric institutes in the Netherlands in the 1950s in an attempt to counter homosexual tendencies, according to a Dutch newspaper report. Some were reportedly castrated without parental knowledge.
NRC Handelsblad--one of the nation’s leading dailies--reported that castrations were discussed openly at the time with state inspectors, according to the minutes of meetings. One of the victims, Henk Heithuis, was reportedly castrated after he told police that he had been abused by a priest.
Following the report, some members of parliament called for an investigation.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
|
An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus: Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you! |
Easter Campaign: Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($33,066 to go):
$80,000.00
$46,933.77
41%
59%
|
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: cloudchaser64 -
Mar. 20, 2012 6:27 PM ET USA
We have to look at the time period here. Nazi medicine was devoted to the pseudoscience of Eugenics (thanks to Margaret Sanger), which spilled over into Dutch medicine. It also affected American medicine. At this same time, there are documented reports of black girls who had babies out of wedlock were routinely sterilized.
