Eugenics(from Greek «eugenes» — «well-born», «noble») <TAG1> is a scientifically unfounded and deeply immoral theory that emerged in the late 19th century. Its proponents believed that it was possible to improve humanity «through the so-called » selective breeding«, supposedly by accumulating desirable traits and eliminating undesirable ones. These ideas were based on a distorted understanding of genetics, arguing that complex human qualities like intelligence, behavior, or disease propensity are passed down a simple hereditary path.
Historically, eugenics had two main branches:
Positive eugenics
aimed at stimulating the reproduction of people with desirable, «valuable» for society traits (high intelligence, physical and mental health).
Negative eugenics
focused on preventing the reproduction of people with unwanted or «harmful» traits such as hereditary diseases, mental disorders, mental retardation, physical disabilities and addictions.
Emergence and global distribution
The term «eugenics» was introduced in 1883 by an English statistician Francis Galton (cousin of Charles Darwin). He defined it as the «study of factors that are under social control and can improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations». Galton's ideas about the heredity of health, disease, and intelligence formed the basis of eugenic thought.
By the 1920s, eugenics had become a global movement supported by governments, the elite, and the general public in countries such as Germany, the United States, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, and Mexico. It was actively promoted by statisticians, economists, anthropologists, sociologists, geneticists and other specialists through scientific and popular literature.
Nazi Germany: The Apogee of Abuse of Eugenics
The most tragic use of eugenics took place in Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The Nazi regime used eugenic ideas to «purge» of the German people from those they considered «unworthy of life». This has led to dire consequences: mass killings as part of the «euthanasia» program, which has claimed the lives of at least 70,000 adults and 5,200 children; forced sterilization that affected at least 400,000 people; and the almost complete destruction of the Jewish people during the Holocaust and attempts to eliminate other marginalized groups such as Sinti and Roma, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Eugenics today
Eugenics was completely discredited after World War II, but its practices and ideas unfortunately still manifest themselves in various forms. In many countries, forced sterilization and institutionalization continued until at least the 1970s, and in some cases we still see their echoes today.
Current advances in genomic technologies are generating new ethical dilemmas. The development of genomic screening and polygenic risk scales creates dangerous societal pressures for pregnancy termination if risks of genetic disorders such as, for example, Down syndrome are identified. However, it is important to distinguish between historical, forced eugenics and modern medicine. Breakthroughs in genomic technologies allow the detection of serious risks of genetic disorders in the fetus. In such cases, the decision to terminate pregnancy — is not eugenics, but an informed choice of parents. It is a deeply personal decision based on medical evidence, family circumstances and humanitarian principles, not on the desire to «to improve race» or state coercion.
The possibility of screening embryos for behavioral or intellectual traits during in vitro fertilization (IVF) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis is currently controversial, because here the line between preventing suffering and potential discrimination is becoming thinner. We must ensure that medical advances serve the benefit of the individual and support their right to choice and quality life, not to force «to screen out» on any grounds.
