Harry J. Haiselden | |
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| Born | Harry John Haiselden March 16, 1870 |
| Died | June 18, 1919 (aged 49) Havana, Cuba |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois College of Medicine |
| Occupation | Surgeon |
| Known for | Eugenics |
Harry John Haiselden (March 16, 1870 – June 18, 1919) was an American physician and the Chief Surgeon at the German-American Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Haiselden gained notoriety in 1915, when he refused to perform needed surgery for children born with severe birth defects and allowed the babies to die, in an act of eugenics.[1][2] The film The Black Stork was made by him, about him, and starred him.
- ^ "Dr. Haiselden of Chicago Refuses to Operate to Save a Day-Old Infant. Physician, Who Acted Similarly in the Bollinger Case, Suspects Pre-Natal Influence". The New York Times. July 25, 1917. Retrieved December 28, 2008.
The day-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Meter of 121 North Cicero Avenue, died today at the German-American Hospital, where Dr. Harry J. Haiselden refused to perform an operation which he acknowledged probably would save the child's life. Physician, Who Acted Similarly in the Bollinger Case, Suspects Pre-Natal Influence.
- ^ Edwin Black (2004). War Against the Weak. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1-56858-321-4.
At 4am on November 12, 1915, a woman named Anna Bollinger gave birth at the German-American Hospital in Chicago. The baby was somewhat deformed and suffered from extreme intestinal and rectal abnormalities, as well as other complications. The delivering physicians awakened Harry Haiselden, the hospital's chief of staff. Haiselden came in at once. He consulted with colleagues. There was great disagreement over whether the child could be saved. But Haiselden decided the baby was too afflicted and fundamentally not worth saving. It would be killed. The method: denial of treatment.