Preview

The Pros And Cons Of Eugenics

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1779 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Pros And Cons Of Eugenics
Eugenics has brought the idea that each person has value. The value of each person is similar to a certificate that gives you privileges over everyone who did not fit the idea of the super-race. “Eugenicists trumpeted reproduction as a means to preserve the Anglo-Saxon race, and, in turn, believed that the failure of eugenically fit women to reproduce would lead to the race’s demise”. (Ziegler, 2008) Women had to be checked by “scientists” to see if they would be classified as fit for companionship/marriage. The standards for a fit-women were she should be barred from pursuing higher education, professionalization, and employment in favor of occupying themselves solely with having children. Eugenicists contended that women should only be “educated” …show more content…
The idea of eugenics for women is to make their bodies into lifeless, soulless, and docile. They become docile bodies because they are subjected, used, transformed and improved. The bodies are then improved by trying to pick and choose what qualities they would like to pass on to the future generations. The future generations are now losing individuality because everyone is looking the same. People are looking the same because eugenics has elements of Darwinism in its philosophy. The elements they take from Darwinism are getting rid of the weak by eliminating them. The idea of genetics puzzles people because it presents itself as genocide. The genocide is performed the same way as who was chosen as the Aryan (Certificate) during the Holocaust. People were allowed to live and reproduce certificates that would produce people who were “fit”. The “certificates” hold so much privilege that make everyone want to do dangerous damage that would prevent “unfit” people from being born. Sterilization played a huge role to prevent “unfit” people from being born. Women were sterilized to prevent “unfit” offspring. Sterilization was seen as an essential idea that it would make the world a better …show more content…
“California defined sterilization not as a punishment but as a prophylactic measure that could simultaneously defend the public health, preserve precious fiscal resources, and mitigate the menace of the “unfit” and “feebleminded”. (Stern, 2005) California was one of the major states to approve of sterilizing the unfit people, but mainly Latina women. Human population control was seen as a problem in California because many undocumented women and women in general were conceiving babies. California did not like the idea of having babies produced by women who were undocumented. “"I don't remember signing the consent form," said Hermosillo, now 66. "They decided for me."” (Tajima-Peña, No Mas Bebes) Women having their right to bare children taken away because of a terrible family program initiated by the government shows that people do not take the lives of women seriously. The feeling to not be able to produce children anymore is devastating because she loses a freedom that should not be taken from her without consent. Putting myself into the shoes of the female must be heartbreaking. Having anyone close to me that I have taken care of is painful because you raised/spent time on the person. Giving a person your life and time shows that having the privilege to produce children should be consent act, but in the eyes of the government it is not. The government lied to us that they would protect us from harm, but you

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    As a reflection, the Gonzales v. Carhart case in 2007 had a significant impact on the way abortions were performed. It established the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act which prevented D&E procedures, the dilation of a woman’s cervix followed by the extraction of the unborn child. (Kennedy 2) All doctors that knowingly performed the procedure were punished through the form of jail time or their license being revoked (Kennedy 8) since this was looked upon as inhumane. Also, making abortions illegal directly violates women’s human rights according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The document states that slavery and servitude is a violation of the rights (UN General Assembly 1948), so the denial of abortions violates women’s human rights because their bodies are slaves to the government and they have to serve the government with their body, meaning continuing with an unwanted pregnancy. The document also states that everyone should feel secure and when this is not the case for the women that attempt to be an abortion; they fear for their life. Nevertheless, legalizing abortions is the best choice for the nation because it comes with benefits. Sadly, before abortions, they were many births that resulted in children being sent to orphanages since…

    • 1802 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sanger simultaneously sought to connect birth control to the eugenics movement. This would apply to mostly women of color, and most of the time women were being sterilized without their consent. She believed that in doing so poor families and families of color would have less children resulting in a more “fit” population, since they have undesirable traits such as low intelligence. McCormick was also apart of a suffrage movement that excluded black women and other minorities.…

    • 77 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It's time for the big day to see your newborn sibling. It has so many shared characteristics between dad and mom. However, what if some of these characteristics like eye color, face type, nose type, could be decided before the pregnancy. What if instead of guessing, you could make your baby, well now you can.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    What may start off having even the best of intentions could end up having some serious negative consequences. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt seemed to have started his belief in eugenics within a sense of nationalism where it was a woman’s duty to the state to birth and raise a family. He emphasized this view through his conservation programs where white, farming women were the epitome of the ideal type of person that should be procreating. Unlike the weak, feebleminded, retarded, deaf, blind, etc. who should not pass along their unwanted genetics. There are a few other authors in our text book, American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, that also followed this program of eugenics masked by a conservationist agenda.…

    • 2674 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Genetically modified foods are beneficial for our society because of the nutrients that may be added to foods and the greater ability to produce these foods. While some people argue that genetic modification is still a new technology that should be researched further, others will agree that the benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks. Society today has all kinds of new technology at its fingertips and should be allowed to use this technology to enhance certain things to better the world.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Genetic modification is becoming closer and closer to an everyday possibility. With this possibility comes a whirlwind of possible effects, both positive and negative. There has been a history of opposition towards these technologies, oftentimes because of fear that the capabilities would be abused. However, the potential that newborns could be born free of hereditary diseases outweighs the fear of “designer babies”.…

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Genetic engineering (GE) is also known, as genetic modification is the process of organisms that are genetically modified. In this process the goal is to transfer new DNA to an organism so it can improve its habits and make new cells.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eugenics Ethical Issues

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I believe that the Eugenics program had many issues, both technical and ethical. The basis of the Eugenics program - that an individual’s life can be seen as “a burden” and not worth society’s resources - brings up multiple moral arguments. Who is the judge of whether a life is more valuable than another? Does this not give government workers and referrers the jurisdiction to play God? Inherently, this program had a multitude of factors that were not taken into account. One issue is the measurements used to quantify whether a person should have the right to reproduce or not. The qualifications were too unclear, and a range of reasons were used, from IQ tests, mental illness, handicaps, and even sexual promiscuity. Moreover, while the program was active, the state did not clarify who should make the final decisions. Unlike most states, in which medical professionals mainly acted as the final word, North Carolina allowed social workers, medical professionals, teachers, and even neighbors to have a say in who could possibly be sterilized. Many of these individuals reported unsuspecting…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hardly a single area in Latin America had in fact remained completely untouched by Eugenics by the 1930s.... [The movements] were led by medical doctors in obstetrics, child health, and mental hygiene, and their goals were to propagandize, and apply, the new science of Eugenics rather than to carry out research in heredity and health (Stepan 55).…

    • 2107 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a non-profit organization created by Margaret Sanger in 1916. The federation aids in the health of reproductive systems of women, and aspires to educate as many people as possible about safe sex, and protecting yourself and others. Sanger’s organization has often come under fire, leading to false attributions made towards her and her beliefs on eugenics, or the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable and heritable characteristics (Dictionarycom). Eugenics is a tense subject for some people who do not understand how to take it so it is seldom discussed. A positive attribute of the planned parenthood organization is that they provide…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As research continues to uncover new disease-causing mutations, the prospect of stopping the transmission of heritable diseases increases. With the use of modern technology, expecting parents can now be prescreened in order to determine their carrier status for certain diseases. Parents who choose to use in vitro fertilization are able to choose embryos that are free of disease due to preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Additionally, parents can be provided with information on their unborn child with the use of prenatal genetic testing. Some individuals view modern genetic technology as eugenic; however, this biggest difference between eugenics now and eugenics during the 1900s is consent. Today individuals pursue genetic testing by choice and policies on ethics and consent prevent reoccurrences of the immoral endeavors within the field of…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Future Eugenics

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “You may think Humans is a noun, but in reality we’re actually a verb- we’re an action; an occurrence; a state of motion!”- BJ Murphy…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eugenics can have an upside to human life. Eugenics can be used to assess a child’s medical needs. Parents already know the particular DNA makeup of their unborn child, which allows them to be prepared to meet the medical needs of that…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What you just read is not fiction, though! This is truly what used to happen in America. For a time, liberty and equality were overshadowed by the twisted need for a more perfect society. Now a section of America’s horrible history has been brought to light. This paper has revealed the key concepts behind Eugenics, and how population control was being used to try and make a better society. We have seen how Eugenicists have studied these “incapable people”. Might I add that, in contrast to today, it is crystal clear as to how wrong they were, and how wretched their actions were! Finally, this paper went in-depth into sterilization laws, marriage laws, and immigration restrictions- three of the largest ramifications of the Eugenics Movement on society. It is impossible to change what has happened in the past. This is a shadow that will follow the United States for eternity. The good news is that this horrible time period has passed, and America possess prized attributes we currently value! We are extremely fortunate that today we don’t have Eugenics in…

    • 1800 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mexican Eugenics

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In 1883 a social movement called Eugenics was created by Francis Galton. This movement was created because they had a scientific theory that it will improve human race by selecting proper humans for breeding. This was based mostly on human’s heredity. Scientist will choose the proper “fit” people and encourage them to breed, while the non fit we were forced to be sterilized. Eugenics was a world wide policy, it went through out the Latin America, for example; Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. Eugenics began after the Mexican revolution when the general population started developing diseases. Although Eugenics in Mexico had a different form than the U.S, it had the same base theory on how to improve humanity. It had a great impact on improving the Mexican people through education, public health, and in serve situation the forcefully sterilization.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays