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Eugenics: Don’t Go Down that Slippery SlopeBy Eleanor Canter “All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks.” — Sarah Moore Grimké. We often speak of eugenics as a painful memory of a distant past. Recent remarks by geneticist James Watson, who is credited as one of the lead scientists behind the discovery of the structure of DNA and the Human Genome Project, have caused controversy, mostly due to the fact that Watson’s remarks were racist. Watchdog groups were quick to point out that Watson is also kind of a sexist. Ethicists joined the discussion to remind Americans that recent scientific discoveries could lead to a “slippery slope” in which we eventually lose sight of the value of human difference and culture in a “Gattaca”-like world. Few, however, have seen fit to mention that people with disabilities are already at the bottom of this “slippery slope,” as you will read below in quotes that highlight some piecemeal but choice writings by Watson on the cleansing of the human race by eradication of babies with disabilities. Some of this is pretty shocking, but it is important for us to realize that it is a reality that some leading scientists in America support the already ongoing selective abortion of people with disabilities. This is no different from traditional eugenic “cleansing,” but Watson argues that as long as individuals are the primary decision-makers, as opposed to the government, eugenic cleansing is simply the protection of a woman’s right to control her own body. According to Watson, “irrational,” “foolish” or “crazy” women who see value in the life of a person with a disability are partly to blame for the downfall of our civilization. British scientist Robert Edwards has argued, “Soon it will be a sin of parents to have a child that carries the heavy burden of genetic disease.” With the 90% abortion rate of babies with Down syndrome, tortuous conditions in our nursing homes, and accepted medical mistreatment through experimentation, why do we as Americans dismiss this more technologically perfected version of eugenics poorly disguised as progress? How are these practices superior to the terrible eugenics movement against people with disabilities in Nazi Germany and the United States of America during the same time period? It is also interesting to note that Watson, until recently, was chancellor of Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory, the main site of the original American eugenics and sterilization movement and the driving force behind the legalization of sterilization of “imbeciles” in the United States. Although we like to think that we are in a place in our movement at which it is no longer necessary to explain to the general public why it is wrong to selectively eradicate a culture, clearly we have important work to do. The following quotes have been compiled from multiple publicly available resources. For full citations, contact eleanor@ncil.org. “A woman would be able to choose whether to cure an ailing child …if she wants to be a fool, she can be a fool… Most people would say, ‘I don’t want a child with muscular dystrophy.’” “To Tom Paine, common sense dictated that each human was entitled to make their own decisions and not receive them from kings or bishops whose authority did not come from those that they ruled over. Common sense tells me that humans should prevent as much genetic disease as science lets us.” “ … Random throws of the genetic dice during the formation of sperm and egg take away from too many infants the opportunity to participate in a meaningful life. Those unfortunate individuals genetically programmed, say, to have cystic fibrosis, or muscular dystrophy, represent unambiguous tragedies lacking in any compensatory side advantages. Common sense tells me that no one is seriously harmed by steps taken to prevent the birth of such children. Once born, their existences will by necessity generate too many moments of anxiety, pain and despair. Common sense also dictates that prospective mothers should make the decisions as to what lives are worth their bringing into the world. Obviously, they should share their thoughts with the fathers – that is, if they are still about. But men, however, should have no veto over women’s decisions. Few men willingly share the burden of looking after tiny infants. Likely, they are less genetically programmed to give the necessary care. Such decisions, like, Do I want to find out whether my future child will be badly handicapped? should be the choice of a woman. No one should force her either to be tested or not tested. But she should know what genetic tests exist and how respective genetic diseases, say, Down syndrome, or Fragile X, will impact the future of those women that bear these children. How women will make these decisions will naturally depend on their own senses of right and wrong and from what culture and religions they come out of. Great care must be taken to keep governmental and religious bodies from directly entering into genetic matters. We all know too well what happened in Nazi Germany, when its government decided what lives are worth living.” “Of course, women will occasionally make decisions that they later regret. Some of these may lead to governments, charities and religious groups caring for children whose disabilities prove too great for their parents to handle. We should count on good common sense coming from most women, particularly those with prior exposure to genetic issues. The ‘power to the people’ idea really only works in dealing with educated people. Unfortunately, current gene discovery moves forward much faster than our genetic education programs for girls and their mothers. Common sense also dictates that individuals, as opposed to governments or other bodies, decide when our own genetic information is looked at.” “No discussions, I think, can reverse the fact that some people just are victims of genetic injustice, and their future lives will not be as simple or as healthy as those of others. No matter what we try and do ethically, we can’t reverse the harm to a person who carries a gene which will give him a short life. I think the only way we can sort of respond to this fact that some people are treated worse than others by their genes is to try and cure the diseases. Otherwise, we’re always going to be in a situation where no matter what we do someone who doesn’t deserve to has a worse fate in life than someone else.” “But those answers may not be easy, for, as I know all too well, genetics can be cruel. My own son may be one of its victims. Warm and perceptive at the age of 37, Rufus cannot lead an independent life because of schizophrenia, lacking the ability to engage in day-to-day activities. For all too long, my wife Ruth and I hoped that what Rufus needed was an appropriate challenge on which to focus. But as he passed into adolescence, I feared the origin of his diminished life lay in his genes. It was this realization that led me to help to bring the Human Genome Project into existence. In doing so, I knew that many new moral dilemmas would arise as a consequence and would early on establish the ethical, legal and societal components of the genome project. Since 1978, when a pail of water was dumped over my Harvard friend E.O. Wilson for saying that genes influence human behavior, the assault against human behavioral genetics by wishful thinking has remained vigorous.” “One in three people looking for a job in temporary employment bureaus in Los Angeles is a psychopath or a sociopath. Is this a consequence of their environment or their genetic components? DNA sequencing should give us the answer. The thought that some people are innately wicked disturbs me. But science is not here to make us feel good. It is to answer questions in the service of knowledge and greater understanding.” ***************************************************************** Eleanor Canter is a staff member of NCIL. |
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