Summary Of Abortion And Disability By Ruth Hubbard

In the essay “Abortion and Disability”, Ruth Hubbard takes on the ideals set forth in a modern day eugenic process. Eugenics is the study of improving a species by selectively breeding to make sure desirable traits are passed on to offspring; This also means that undesirable traits are taken out of the gene pool. Modern scientists are working on ways to offer testing on unborn fetuses to see if they will have any genetic deficiencies or disabilities. While this may sound like a good thing, some have taken offense to this. A minority of the people in the disabled population sees this as a crime against humanity as we are evaluating unborn children and deciding if their lives are worth living. Hubbard takes on these dilemmas and addresses both

Eugenic studies first began in the United States and Britain in the early 1900’s. It began as a way to try and improve society by removing the inept and insane from the gene pool. Laws were enacted in the United States from 1907-1931, which called for sterilization of those with a tremendously low IQ and those that were deemed mentally unstable. While the actions of the U.S. were immoral, eugenics took a turn for the worst in post WWI Germany. The term eugenics turned into racial hygiene, which became a festering point for racism and destructive social programs. Racial hygiene became most historically known in Germany, these events are often known as the Holocaust. The Holocaust is the well known German operation that set out to rid the world of Jews and the disabled. Starting in 1933 under the rule of Adolf Hitler, Germany enacted sterilization laws, and it would only get worse. Soon sterilization and euthanasia became common place in Germany, leading to the many death camps that were used during WWII. This is the first thing that people think about when they hear the word eugenics, and leaves them with an immovable position of contempt for the

In it’s current state, eugenics in today's society is more like a warning than the cleansings of history. With parental consent, prenatal testing is performed on fetuses and the analysis is given back to the parents. Things like genetic disorders and disabilities can be detected from these tests, and give the parents an idea of what their children's lives may be like. If a test comes back positive for a serious birth defect/disorder, then parents that may not be able to economically support the child and give it a good quality of life can abort and prevent suffering from all parties. The problem is that many disabled rights activists have taken offense to this, and are campaigning against it. Disabled rights activists have a problem with parents choosing which fetuses have a “right to live” based on their proposed disorder. However, if a parent simply cannot afford to take care of their child, abortion may be the only sensible option. While it may be immoral to choose who has the “right to live”, is it not immoral to bring a child into the world that you know you will not be able to care for and will likely suffer. Even if a parent has the economic means to care for a disabled child, it is mentally and physically taxing, and not all people can handle the stress of raising a special needs child. It takes a dedicated and compassionate person to do such a thing, and