The "scientific" theory of eugenics was born in 1869 through Francis Galton. Galton, a hereditary genius and cousin of Charles Darwin, believed that behavior and characteristics were passed hereditarily from generation to generation. For example, according to eugenics, poor women conceived poor children and rich women conceived rich children. Eugenics targeted individuals who did not fit the idea of ​​the ideal American and women who challenged social normality through employment. Americans embraced eugenics in the face of immigration and the crisis of masculinity in the early 20th century. President Teddy Roosevelt supported the theory of eugenics, even comparing the duty of soldiers to fight to the duty of women to have children. After World War II and the realization that the genocide of millions of Jews had occurred became well known, supporters of eugenics argued that Hitler's actions took the theory of eugenics completely overboard. States that had used eugenic language and laws, such as Virginia and California, began to decrease the use of such language and legislation. However, not all states followed this decrease. Instead, North Carolina increased its use of this legislation and sterilized approximately 7,600 women after World War II.[1] Individuals, such as doctors, social workers, and members of the Council on Eugenics, who believed in eugenics and practiced sterilization, believed that their sterilizations of young women were justified and intended. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The theory of eugenics, founded on "scientific" grounds, allowed doctors to develop ways to make sterilization surgery easier and cheaper. Female sterilization techniques, unlike male vasectomies, carried a greater risk. In the 1930s, following the Great Depression, sterilization became the primary source of contraception. To receive sterilization, women underwent surgery and had to stay in the hospital for days to recover, while for men the operation lasted about 15 minutes and then they returned home. Doctors have developed laparoscopy and culdoscopy as less intrusive ways to sterilize women, making sterilization more popular and safe. Following Hathaway v. Worchester, insurance companies began to financially support sterilization because it was cheaper to maintain. This was compared and contrasted with the birth control pill, which had monthly costs, while sterilization was a one-off fee. In North Carolina, doctors' perspectives on eugenics and sterilization appeared detached, but some believed that the actions they took were in the best interests of society. Bowman Gray School of Medicine, now known as Wake Forest University School of Medicine and located in North Carolina, "opened the country's first medical genetics department in 1941," under the leadership of Dr. William Allan.[2] This department focused on negative eugenics, which aimed to prevent certain groups, minorities and disabled people, from procreating. Some doctors began to question their sterilization orders in the 1960s. Dr. AV Blount, who had witnessed the sterilization of many women but did not recall ever having sterilized a woman, stated that "'he had a feeling that...maybe this wasn't a good thing to do'".[3] ] Dr. Blount seems to avoid it.