The Pros And Cons Of Eugenics

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Eugenics is an inherently flawed idea. At its most basic, it sets out to do one thing: improve the human race. In a perfect world, a group of humanity’s best and brightest would get together and create a plan that would lay the foundation for a better future. With each passing generation humans would get stronger, smarter, and more altruistic. It would seem that there is no nobler cause than working to see the eugenic goal come to fruition. But eugenics is perhaps an idea conceived too early and too hastily. It is, in fact, an idea that is too good to be true. The reality of the situation was that Eugenics, in its various forms, rooted itself into a moral grey area. Actions made to advance its fronts struck against human rights in a way that…show more content…
Considering how ubiquitous reproduction is among humans, controlling each and every birth is a foolhardy task. But eugenicists were an intelligent and organized group of individuals (usually university educated and wealthy) and they were not so easily discouraged (Martinez). However, they failed to recognize the moral transgressions they were making in progressing towards their goal. Nowadays, reproductive rights are a real subset of human rights supported by the UN and WHO (“United Nations Population…”). They state that, “all couples and individuals have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the information, education, and means to do so” (“United Nations Population…”). Admittedly, encouraging individuals to reproduce does not take away these rights. Most of the grief associated with the movement has to do with negative eugenic measures. Throughout the Eugenics Movement and the American division specifically, involuntary sterilizations were plentiful and any individuals deemed unfit would be forced to submit (Norrgard). Furthermore, American eugenicists heavily supported the placement of marriage laws in the 20th century (“Image Archive…”). Forms like Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924 were lobbied for by influential eugenicists at the time legally outlawing marriage between white or “superior” individuals and the rest of the “unfit” population (“Image Archive…”). These laws are all flagrant offenses against what society today considers basic human rights and make it abundantly clear as to how eugenics is an unethical
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