Modern eugenics

What's in a name? Does it make a difference if (by way of example) the widespread abortion of unborn children with Down syndrome is called “eugenics”? A number of bioethicists deny that it is, even though the rates of termination reach 90% if a diagnosis is made before birth. From their point of view, “eugenics” is a word reserved for Nazi atrocities. The destruction of children with Down syndrome is not being carried out by Nazis, ergo, it is not eugenics.

A number of bioethicists writing from a disability perspective disagree. We have presented some of their arguments in a special issue of the Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities. They have a refreshingly different opinion on this contentious topic.

Michael Cook
Did it finish in 1945?
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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

BioEdge

China is desperate to raise its birthrate

American man says that he is both father and mother for his kids

Are we already living in a transhumanist reality?

95% of Irish women who know that their unborn child is Down syndrome have abortions

Massachusetts politicians propose prisoners as organ donors

Peru’s forced sterilization tragedy drags on in the courts

Japanese PM says that his country is falling off a demographic cliff

Houellebecq savages euthanasia

Modern eugenics

Nature’s mea culpa for promoting eugenics

Can we please define ‘eugenics’ before criticizing it?

Another step forward towards artificial gametes

Is Singapore ready for mass production of eggs and sperm from stem cells?

Is euthanasia becoming a runaway train in Canada?

Transhumanism under the microscope