The History Of Eugenics And Its Existence Today

The Definition and Appearance of the Term

Eugenics originates from the Greek roots for good and 'birthplace,' or 'great birth' and includes applying standards of hereditary qualities and heredity for enhancing humankind. Francis Galton first invented the term eugenics in the late 1800's (Norrgard 2008). Galton was an English scholar, whose collection of work spread over many fields, including measurements, brain research, meteorology and hereditary qualities. The Eugenics movement increased in the Unified States in the mid 1900's, directed by Charles Davenport, a prominent researcher, and Harry Laughlin, a former instructor who was interested in breeding (Rivard, 2014).

Euginics and Hitler

After eugenics became deeply rooted in the United States, the idea shifted into Germany. Hitler began to study the American eugenics laws. Hitler recruited more followers among the Germans by assuring them science supported the idea. Hitler's hate for different races came from his own mind; however, the plan of eugenics that Hitler accepted was created in America (Black, 2003). Hitler gladly told his companions just how diligently he followed the progress of the American eugenics movement.

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He also told a confederate that had great interest, and even wrote a letter to American eugenics leader Madison Allow, calling his race-based book, 'The Death of the Unequaled Race,' and called the book his 'bible' (Black, 2003).

Coerced sterilization was used as a mean to control the unequaled race. The undesired population was considered to be single moms, immigrants, poor people, non-white individuals, the disabled, and mentally ill. The Government financed neutering programs occurred in 32 states all through the twentieth century.

These partial ideas was driven by science and social control, these projects enforce policies on immigration and segregation. Davenport established the eugenics Record Office at Chilly Spring Harbor Research center on Long Island 'to enhance the normal, physical, mental, and unstable characteristics of the human family.

Eugenics Today

Many individuals can concur eugenics was a development that happened in history. However, I have not seen people talking about eugenics as of late and today. As a general public we do not call many activities eugenics or talk about the dangers of genetic counseling but it is actually still around only thing that is different is that it is not forced on the public. For example, there is prenatal testing in order to avoid having children with disabilities (Kpagination, 2017). It is recommend that people with disorders should refrain from having children because they have a disability. In nations, for example, Australia, impaired individuals are still being sterilized 'for their own security' (Kpagination, 2017). We disregard to observe eugenics when discussing human genomics and quality altering programs, for example, CRISPR. What about the discussion of designer babies?

Indiana passed the world's first sterilization law, which approved medicinal directors to clean individuals whose "malignant" genes seemed to threaten society (Stem, 2016). From 1907 to 1937, 32 US states followed, passing eugenic sterilization laws as part of a public health project to battle decadence. In 1909, two years after Indiana and couple weeks after Washington State and, California passed the third sterilization bill in the country, the secretary of the State Commission in Lunacy, granted medical superintendents of asylums and prisons (Stem, 2016). This enactment let shelters and detainment facilities to asexualize a patient or prisoner, if such activity would enhance his or her 'physical, mental, or moral condition. These laws were developed to control the growth of the undesired population until the 1970s, when the government began to retract these statutes (Stem, 2016).

Informed consent and ethics was greatly violated. Most, if not all, people was sterilized against their will. The government and intuitions coerced and deceived some of these women into being sterilized. The right to breed without intervention from outsiders is one of the essential freedom we have, perceived by moral theories and ethical traditions. The Supreme Court's ruling permitted around 64,000 Americans to be forcibly sterilized.