Mainstream Eugenics A Moral Imperative Any discussion of eugenics must begin with a definition of the term itself While the most basic meaning etymologically speaking is well born Hampton Francis Galton cousin to Charles Darwin first defined the term eugenics as primarily the science of improving stock which is by no means confined to questions of judicious mating but which especially in the case of man takes cognisance of all influences that tend in however remote a degree to give to the more suitable races or strains of blood a better chance of prevailing speedily over the less suitable than they otherwise would have had quoted in Harvard Law Review Clearly the contentions that some moralists have with eugenics stem from the latter half of Galton s definition Galton in a rather egregious manner has falsely associated the entire concept of eugenics with a particular ideology in this case the idea that there are inferior races that should be actively prevented from producing progeny The idea that certain peoples should be encouraged to breed while others should be discouraged from doing so gives rise to the terms positive and negative eugenics respectively Hampton The search for examples of either need not consume us unduly Any practice that advocates race supremacy white black or otherwise necessarily advocates positive eugenics to propagate that race white couples having white kids black couples having black ones The laws imposing sterilization of those deemed mentally feeble first enacted in the US by Indiana in 1907 are principal examples of negative eugenics The problems with these terms positive and negative are readily apparent The use of them especially in the latter case recalls the repugnant acts committed in their name Unfortunately in the minds of some eugenics has become synonymous with these acts when in fact eugenics strictly speaking is a purely scientific expression or should be Nonetheless considering that eugenics does involve the direct manipulation of life the ethics involved are of primary concern In this paper I will present the moral arguments raised by opponents of eugenics and present refutations to them I will then argue that the best course of action regarding the future of eugenics in the form of genetic selection and genetic enhancement should be to incorporate some of the basic tenets of what Nicholas Agar calls liberal eugenics Fox but that this laissez faire liberality should be tempered by a limited amount of government regulation Before discussing the arguments against eugenics it seems appropriate to discuss exactly what eugenic practices are being maligned At its most basic any person who chooses a mate based on how he or she wants their future kid to turn out is practicing eugenics This practice has been occurring for generations most especially among royals with mixed results and few would argue that it is unethical Certainly the decision of whom we choose to marry and why stands outside the purview of anyone but those whom it directly affects with few exceptions obviously the state will step in occasionally as in the case of polygamy or child marriage Overall however the right to marital privacy forbids interference by the state in activities relating to marriage procreation contraception family relationships and child rearing and education and that right would seem to extend to new procreative technologies like in vitro fertilization Harvard Law Review Likewise any parent who imposes piano lessons on his kids for the purpose of trying to improve musical ability or cognitive function while not practicing eugenics specifically as it is a practice that occurs after the offspring is born is hoping to attain results similar to those produced by eugenics One might argue that it is unfair that some children receive this special education while others don t perhaps because some parents have more discretionary income than others but one would be hard pressed to argue that it should be prohibited on moral grounds Such practices occur all the time and are generally accepted These previous arguments regarding procreative liberty and the argument by analogy form the basis of what Nicholas Agar calls liberal eugenics Liberal eugenics further holds that the use of eugenics should be 1 voluntary as in free from coercion 2 individualistic on a child by child basis by individual families and 3 without government intervention Fox The proposed mechanism for liberal eugenics is of course genetic selection and enhancement In spite of the seeming logic of the preceding suppositions however some moralists argue that when one starts applying these arguments to genetic manipulation they do not hold up What is being attacked then is the practice of stock improvement as it applies toward direct genetic interference via gene selection and gene enhancement Gene selection as we currently understand it arose as a natural result of pre implantation genetic diagnosis the process by which an embryo is microscopically examined for signs of genetic disorders Baird Should a disorder be discovered the afflicted embryo can be terminated or if discovered at a pre implantation stage as with IVF an egg without the disease bearing genes may be chosen Steere Antenatal screening thus feeds directly into genetic selection Perhaps the most obvious way in which this occurs is the use of antenatal screening to determine the sex of the child Presumably parents could choose to terminate embryos whose sex was not preferable to them Such practices already occur in some states China being the one that most readily comes to mind It should be noted however that in China there are strict laws that govern population control Though some argue that allowing parents here to choose their child s sex could lead to an imbalance in the male to female ratio by and large studies have shown that in countries where procreation choices are largely left up to the family unit as in the United States there does not seem to be any drastically preferred choice of boys over girls or vice versa Fox Gene enhancement involves the alteration of genes to produce a desired effect Baird The arguments for and against gene selection and gene enhancement are slightly different as we will come to see While the prospect of gender bias can be refuted rather swiftly other aspects of genetic manipulation cannot be so easily dismissed One such question is in regards to new behavioral genetics which as the name suggests has to do
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