Reflection on Genetics, Sterilization,  Eugenics

Reflection:

Reflection on Genetics, Sterilization,  Eugenics

During the semester you viewed the film entitled “Selling Murder: The Killing Films of the Third Reich”. As you remember, the documentary tells the story of how the National Socialist Party tried to justify extermination of physically and mentally disabled children and adults during the World War II in Germany. In 1941, handicapped children were placed on buses and taken to the town of Hadamar, Germany and between January and August of that year, some 100,000 institutionalized mentally and physically disabled persons were gassed there under the auspices of Operation T4 (Euthanasia Program). This operation was temporarily halted in August 1941. When it was reinstated in the following summer of 1942, Hadamar medical personnel again began to gas disabled patients. From 1942 until the end of war in May 1945, the facility claimed even more victims by lethal overdoses of medication. Many lives of disabled persons were lost. Rationales included “aesthetic” cleansing, “racial purity”, “economic burdens”, “natural selection”, “life unworthy of life”, and “mercy killing” or “euthanasia” (a good death).

You are aware of forced sterilizations in the United States. The Nazi government actually used the U.S. sterilization program as a model for their sterilization program. In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, by a vote of 8 to 1, to uphold a state’s right to forcibly sterilize a person considered unfit to procreate.  As many as 70,000 Americans were forcibly sterilized during the 20th century. The motivating reason for forced and coerced sterilizations was to deny specific populations the ability to procreate due to a perception that they are less than ideal members of society. The people impacted by state-mandated sterilization included people who were labeled “mentally deficient,” as well as those who were deaf, blind and diseased and disabled. Minorities, poor people and “promiscuous” women were often targeted. As mentioned in lecture, the compulsory sterilization of American men and women continues to this day. In 2013, it was reported that 148 female prisoners in two California prisons were sterilized between 2006 and 2010 in a supposedly voluntary program, but it was determined that the prisoners did not give consent to the procedures.

You have been introduced to ethical issues involved in genetics and eugenics. Recently, you viewed the futuristic Hollywood film entitled “Gattaca”. People are mostly born genetically engineered. Of course, parents can pay more money to have enhancements if they decide to have their child genetically engineered. However, there are still some children that are the product of natural reproduction. Some of these children have varying levels of “defects”. In the film it talks about these people being “in-valids”. We have seen incredible stories of people having the ability to act contrary to their biological predispositions. These people overcome extreme obstacles like Jerome in the film.  If we enhanced everyone, what would the world be like?  According to one critic, “We could lose this beautiful variety; this wonderful messiness that we have in the world. We could get so terribly tidy; we could tidy away our flaws; lose all our wonder, lose our excitement, lose our “expect- tive-ness”.

History has shown us that the disabled are often devalued or dis-valued.  Now reflect on the following questions.  How have events in history and the potential for abuse in the future guided your thinking in advocating for the disabled and vulnerable? How has the issue of race and class discrimination influenced this devaluation?

Rubric found below.

Please follow the following rubric (grades based on this): 

Criteria:

• Answer completeness to questions in the essay: In-depth completion of answers to the two questions.
• Critical thinking: Provides an exceptionally reasoned approach when addressing questions.
• Ethical concepts found in the films: Completely understands and applies ethical concepts.