Category: birth defects

Letter by Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Davenport: Society should not permit degenerates to reproduce their kind.

From The Outlook, January 3rd letter of 1913 [Source] My dear Mr. Davenport: I am greatly interested in the two memoirs you have sent me.  They are very instructive, and, from the standpoint of our country, very ominous.  You say that  those people are not themselves responsible, that it is “society” that is responsible.  I …

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The Eugenic Roots of Genetic Counseling

Charity requires us to believe that most contemporary genetic counselors are not at all motivated by considerations that we would term ‘eugenic.’  However, the founders of the field left no doubt about their motivations, stating them plainly and explicitly, and characterizing them as definitely constituting eugenics.  The following material raises more than reasonable doubt that …

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Life Unworthy of Life Yesterday and Today, Science, Secularism, and the Sanctity of Life

This foreword is reprinted with permission of the author and may not be copied and re-posted.  The foreword originally appears in the translation of Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche’s Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life lifeunworthyoflife.com | Buy on Amazon | Kindle Life Unworthy of Life Yesterday and Today, Science, Secularism, and the …

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The Lethal Chamber Proposal, 1930 Letter to Editor by Dr. Richard Berry

A little known fact is that those with a eugenics mindset had been talking about ‘lethal chambers’ and ‘segregation camps’ for a long time before the Nazis actually used them.  Here is one example. The Lethal Chamber Proposal To the Editor, Eugenics Review   SIR,-I observe in your issue of April 1930, page 6, that you …

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Christianity and Eugenics Diametrically Opposed

One of the common themes that surfaces in the writings of eugenicists is how Christianity is the antithesis of the eugenics mindset.  Catholics in particular are often singled out.  No person educated in evolution and Darwinism could possibly stand opposed to eugenics–or remain a Christian.  At the very least, tenets of religious faith that stress …

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The Obstacle of Sentiment and Sentimentalists to Pure Scientific Application

One of the common themes that surfaces in eugenic writings is their annoyance that others do not act on the logical implications of Science.  Note that, in the main, they are not taking issue with people who do not agree with their conclusions, but rather those who do agree–but will not act on them.  This …

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The Promise of Race Culture, Abortion, and Every Child a Wanted Child

The Promise of Race Culture by Caleb Williams Saleeby Found in Readings in Evolution, Genetics, and Eugenics, edited by Horatio Hackett Newman, Professor of Zoology in the University of Chicago, in 1921; Newman also gave testimony at the ‘Scopes Monkey’ trial.   Page 503. Now no legislation conceivable will wholly cure this evil nor avert its …

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