33 Eugenics

"Eugenics is the self-direction of human evolution": from the Second International Eugenics Conference, 1921, depicting Eugenics as a tree which unites a variety of different fields.

Sections are from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to the manipulation of human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance, and the theories of August Weismann.. Historically, many of the practitioners of eugenics viewed eugenics as a science, not necessarily restricted to human populations; this embraced the views of Darwinism and Social Darwinism.

Eugenics was widely popular in the early decades of the 20th century. The First International Congress of Eugenics in 1912 was supported by many prominent persons, including: its president Leonard Darwin, the son of Charles Darwin; honorary vice-president Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty and future Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Auguste Forel, famous Swiss pathologist; Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone; among other prominent people. The National Socialists' (NSDAP) approach to genetics and eugenics became focused on Eugen Fischer's concept of phenogenetics and the Nazi twin study methods of Fischer and Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer

Life is precious—no matter how short or how impaired that life may be.

In 1915 a baby boy was born to Anna Bollinger. The baby had obvious deformities, and medical doctor Harry Haiselden decided the baby was not worth saving. The baby was denied treatment and died. The story became national news and the cruelty of eugenic practices became public knowledge.

The year 1915 seems far removed from our modern times, but the concept of eugenics is alive and well. In 2005, two doctors from the Netherlands published “The Groningen Protocol—Euthanasia in Severely Ill Newborns.” This protocol was published to help doctors decide whether or not a newborn should be actively killed based on the newborn’s disease and perceived quality of life.

What Is Eugenics?

The term eugenics was first coined in 1883 by Francis Galton, father of eugenics and cousin of Charles Darwin. The term comes from the Greek roots eu (good) and genics (in birth) to communicate the idea of being well-born.

The ultimate goal of eugenics was to create a superior race of humans. Many adherents believed in evolution by natural selection, but that natural selection was moving too slowly in favoring the best and eliminating the worst. They also believed that charity in the form of taking care of the poor and sick was prohibiting natural selection from working properly and thus the need to intervene with artificial selection.

Artificial selection was accomplished through two types of eugenics—positive and negative. Positive eugenics focused on increasing the “fit” through promoting marriages among the well-born and promoting those fit couples to have multiple children. Negative eugenics focused on decreasing the number of the “unfit” through prohibiting birth (birth control and sterilization) and segregation (e.g., institutionalization of the unfit, marriage restriction laws, and immigration restriction).

History of Eugenics

Although many people associate eugenics with the late 1800s and early 1900s, it is an ancient idea that was in practice long before it was called eugenics. The Law of the Twelve Tables (449 B.C.), which served as the foundation of Roman Law, states “Cito necatus insignis ad deformitatem puer esto,” which means, “An obviously deformed child must be put to death.” Both Plato and Aristotle supported this practice and it was not uncommon for infants to be exposed or left outside the home for a period of time to determine if they were fit enough to survive. The Romans wanted only the most fit for their future warriors.

Francis Galton, upon reading his cousin Charles’s book Origin of Species, decided to apply the mechanisms of natural and artificial selection to man. He stated, “Could not the undesirables be got rid of and the desirables multiplied? Galton promoted the ideas that human intelligence and other hard-to-measure traits such as behaviours were greatly influenced by heredity (not the environment, which was the popular mind-set of the day). He advocated for a program of positive eugenics. His book Hereditary Genius (1869) was well liked by Charles and had a great influence on the ideas presented in his book Descent of Man (1871).

In the early 1900s the eugenics movement became well established in the United States. The movement was well-funded by men like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Kellogg. Eugenic societies, conferences, research institutions, and journals gave a façade of real science to the study of eugenics. This was further promoted by eugenic departments and courses at the university level, where the privileged discussed the fate of the lowly.

The American eugenics movement focused heavily on negative eugenics. Ten classes of social misfits were determined upon which programs of negative eugenics were applied.

First, the feebleminded; second, the pauper class; third, the inebriate class or alcoholics; fourth, criminals of all descriptions including petty criminals and those jailed for non-payment of fines; fifth, epileptics; sixth, the insane; seventh, the constitutionally weak class; eighth, those predisposed to specific diseases; ninth, the deformed; tenth, those with defective sense organs, that is, the deaf, blind, and mute.

All of these traits were thought to be inheritable. Ten per cent of the American population was thought to fit into these broad, ill-defined categories (sometimes known as the “submerged tenth”). Many of those people were forcibly institutionalized in asylums for the “feebleminded and epileptic.” Although not stated in the list, those of “races” other than the Caucasian “race” would also, by the mere fact of ethnic background, be placed into one or more of these categories. Unfortunately, the eugenics movement in the United States heavily influenced Hitler and his scientists and, in return, many eugenicists and eugenic publications supported the horrifying practices of Hitler’s Nazi regime. Negative eugenic practices were even sanctioned by the American government.

Forced Sterilisation

In 1907, Indiana enacted the first forced sterilisation law. The law would be applied to “mentally impaired patients, poorhouse residents, and prisoners.” Over 30 states enacted sterilisation laws, and between 60,000 and 70,000 people were forcibly sterilised between 1900 and 1970. Most forced sterilisations were performed after 1927. In 1927 the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the forced sterilisation of Carrie Buck (in Buck v. Bell) with justice Oliver Wendell Holmes stating, “It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime . . . society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. . . . Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”

Immigration Restriction

The Immigration Act of 1924 set quotas on the number of people allowed into the United States from other countries. Lawmakers were heavily influenced by “scientific data” presented to them by high-ranking members of the eugenics movement.

Marriage Restriction Laws

These laws (which varied by state) were designed to keep the Caucasian “race” pure. The laws prohibited “mixed race” marriages (i.e., Negro and Caucasian) but also marriages with those considered defective (e.g., blind).

What Was the Christian Response to Eugenics?

The Christian response to eugenics was mixed. The Christian apologist G.K. Chesterton condemned eugenics in his 1922 book Eugenics and Other Evils. He saw how eugenics was being used in Germany to support Nazi ideals. Liberalist ideas usually start out wholesome but quickly end up as oppressive policies.

However, some pastors used their pulpits to promote eugenics. The American Eugenics Society sponsored a sermon contest in 1926. Of the five sermons all were filled with popular rhetoric from the eugenics movement with little scriptural support given for eugenics. The pastors seemed to have accepted the “science” of eugenics, much like evolution is accepted, without analysing it in light of the Bible. This is very similar to the modern situation in which many Christian pastors accept the “science” of evolution, promote the idea in their churches, and don’t analyse the conflicts between evolution and science and Scripture.

History of Planned Parenthood and Its Relationship to Eugenics

Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, promoted birth control as a means of controlling the “unfit” in society. Unfit was a euphemism for the negro black race.

The name most commonly associated with Planned Parenthood is that of its founder Margaret Sanger. Margaret married into money and eventually became an active member of the Socialist Party. She was attracted to the party’s fight for “women’s suffrage, sexual liberation, feminism, and birth control.” Birth control particularly for the negroid blacks. White reproduction was to be promoted. Sanger also became a fan of the concepts promoted by Thomas Malthus (who also heavily influenced Charles Darwin in the development of the concept of evolution by natural selection). Malthus was concerned that the human population was growing too rapidly (especially the poor, diseased, and racially inferior) and would outgrow natural resources. The solution proposed by his followers, like Sanger, was to decrease and eliminate the “inferior” population through birth control (including sterilisation and abortion) Sanger stated, “The most merciful thing a large family can do to one of its infant members is to kill it.” Ironically Sanger came from a large poor family.

Sanger became one of the foremost champions of birth control and not just for the benign reason of helping poor women who could not afford large families, but also for “the liberation of sexual desire and the new science of eugenics.” This legacy continues today with Planned Parenthood promoting the liberal CSE program from birth through schooling. In 1921 she organised the American Birth Control League. In 1922 she published the book The Pivot of Civilization which “unashamedly called for the elimination of ‘human weeds,’ for the cessation of charity, for the segregation of ‘morons, misfits, and the maladjusted’ and for the sterilisation of ‘genetically inferior races’ ” meaning the black races.

Sanger stated: The emergency problem of segregation and sterilisation must be faced immediately. Every feeble-minded girl or woman of the hereditary type [meaning negro blacks], especially of the moron class, should be segregated during the reproductive period. Otherwise, she is almost certain to bear imbecile children, who in turn are just as certain to breed other defectives. . . . Moreover, when we realise that each feeble-minded person is a potential source of an endless progeny of defect, we prefer the policy of immediate sterilisation, of making sure that parenthood is absolutely prohibited to the feeble-minded.

Her magazine, The Birth Control Review, contained many articles authored by leading eugenicists of her day. Sanger openly endorsed the concepts and methods of race purification carried out by the Nazis. Sanger believed sex was an evolutionary force that should not be prohibited because of its ability to create genius. In 1942, the American Birth Control League became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA).

Modern Perspectives on Eugenics and Planned Parenthood

Eugenics became associated with the horrors of the Nazi regime in the 1940s and so its popularity in the public arena began to fade. In addition, much of the so-called “science” of eugenics was shown to be false by increased knowledge in the field of genetics. It became almost laughable to think that the eugenic-defined trait of “sense of humour” could be associated with a particular gene and/or somehow quantified.

However, eugenic concepts and the eugenic ideals of PPFA didn’t die. Edwin Black states, “While human genetics was becoming established in America, eugenics did not die out. It became quiet and careful.” The eugenic agenda today is not different in principle or goal but only in name and methods. In recent years, many feared the adverse use of genetic identities and profiles when applying for jobs and insurance.

James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, stated in 2003, “If you are really stupid, I would call that a disease. The lower 10 percent who really have difficulty, even in elementary school, what’s the cause of it? A lot of people would like to say, ‘Well, poverty, things like that,’ It probably isn’t. So I’d like to get rid of that, to help lower the 10 percent.” The idea of the “submerged tenth” is still alive and well in the 21st century.

Planned Parenthood still endorses many eugenic ideas. This should not be surprising as the PPFA website “History and Successes” page clearly states, “Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, is one of the movement’s great heroes. Sanger’s early efforts remain the hallmark of Planned Parenthood’s mission. . . .” Sanger’s efforts advocated sterilisation, abortion, and infanticide of “defectives” in the name of eugenics.