Finally, it is to be borne in mind
that the denial of a marriage license will by no means prevent
reproduction, among the anti-social classes of the community.
For these reasons, the so-called eugenic laws of several states, which
provide for a certificate of health before a marriage license is issued,
are not adequate eugenic measures. They have some value in awakening
public sentiment to the value of a clean record in a prospective life
partner. To the extent that they are enforced, the probability that
persons afflicted with venereal disease are on the average eugenically
inferior to the unaffected gives these laws some eugenic effect. We are
not called on to discuss them from a hygienic point of view; but we
believe that it is a mistake for eugenists to let legislation of this
sort be anything but a minor achievement, to be followed up by more
efficient legislation.
Laws which tend to surround marriage with a reasonable amount of
formality and publicity are, in general, desirable eugenically. They
tend to discourage hasty and secret marriages, and to make matrimony
appear as a matter in which the public has a legitimate interest, and
which is not to be undertaken lightly and without consideration.
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