If someone asked 100 average Americans about eugenics, the overwhelming majority of them would likely announce that they had a negative impression of the concept, rightly or wrongly. Over the last century, eugenics — which is defined as good genetics — has had a checkered history due to how different governments and political leaders have tried to implement the theory. These failed eugenics attempts have had severe socio-political consequences on countries around the world. Within this paper, three eugenics-based policies will be addressed in greater detail. These policies are: birth control, race-based sterilization policies and genocide (on varying scales). Birth control is a relatively recent phenomenon — primarily entering the national agenda after the Industrial Revolution as more and more families left the countryside and moved into urban areas. Prior to this demographic shift, birth control had only been practiced by a handful of people and the methods that were utilized (such as abstinence and withdrawal) had a relatively high failure rate (A brief history of, 2014). Following the Industrial Revolution, birth control was introduced at different rates in different countries — driven by demographic differences, as well as each country's individual religious beliefs and preferences. Certain religions have been much more adamantly opposed to birth control than others. Interestingly, the United States was one of the slowest countries to embrace birth control. In fact, a law — the Comstock Act — was passed that criminalized the advertising and distribution of birth control. And despite the actions of Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood (and its forerunner, the American Birth Control League) and other birth control advocates, the Comstock Act remained on the books well into the 20th century.

Although many of the above-mentioned individuals are regularly lauded for their contributions to women's rights, and other related human rights issues, many of these individuals were proponents of eugenics (particularly if one embraces a broader-based definition of what constitutes eugenics). The idea of birth control was primarily rooted in a concern about racial contamination and a fear that the country was becoming overpopulated by minorities. And therefore, the advocated birth control programs were primarily targeted at members of these identified minority groups in an effort to change the number of children that they have. Various non-profit groups and other organizations have attempted to highlight the troubling link between Sanger and eugenics — and other racially-based ideas that she advocated (The truth about Margaret Sanger, 2014). These ideas have been explored by a wide range of academicians, although it should be noted that there is not unanimous agreement on that she was truly advocating racial purity and superiority by actively working to decrease the birth rates among minority groups (Sanger, 2007). The early birth control advocates, however, contended that their attitudes were not driven by racism or any other negative values or beliefs. Instead, they argued that the focus on birth control was to help upgrade the standards of living in these minority communities, since higher birth rates often lead to depressed economic opportunities and potentially higher poverty rates (Weintraub, 1962). Despite the back-and-forth between different academicians about Sanger's attitudes and her beliefs in racial superiority, it is difficult (if not impossible) to deny that Sanger did publicly make multiple comments advocating eugenics — although her view of eugenics may have been much more moderate, and significantly more socially acceptable, than other policies that we saw later in the 20th century. Birth control is not the only sphere where eugenics has been widely applied or at least theoretically discussed. It (eugenics) has also been applied to the related sphere of forced sterilization — which is a highly controversial topic that has sparked sharp debate and intense concern. In general, forced sterilization has largely been restricted to individuals who are institutionalized either in prisons / correctional facilities or in mental health institutions (Kendregan, 1966). However, some strong eugenics advocates have come out on behalf of even more broad-based reasons for why sterilization should occur. Some of these individuals have attempted to use race as a rationale for mandatory sterilization, whereas others have said that those with mental and / or physical disabilities should be subjected to forced sterilization. Clearly, this concept provokes significant concern in many people across the entire political spectrum (ranging from liberals to conservatives and everything in between) — and there has been a vast amount of literature written on this topic and its potential implications. In addition to birth control and the potential for forced sterilization (disturbing as that sounds), eugenics has called for even more disturbing action plans to bring about its philosophies and values, such as genocide. Genocide is widely condemned by individuals, organizations and nation-states; and thus, laws have been passed both on national and international levels. Genocide occurs when one group is targeted for death by another (more powerful) group due to a specific characteristic that the targeted group has, such as their race or the religion that they practice. Stanton (2014) defines genocide as: “the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.” Most commonly, at least in recent historical instances, the genocide has tended to target ethnic / religious groups, like what has been seen in Darfur. However, looking back to the close of the 20th century, religion played a strong motivating factor in the ethnic cleansing and genocide that happened during the Bosnian War — when ethnic Muslims were targeted by neighbors who identified as Orthodox, and suffered significant losses of life. Although the majority of the most widely discussed examples of genocide have occurred outside of the United States — and primarily in developing countries — the concept is not entirely unheard of in the United States, particularly amongst those who advocate ideas based on eugenics. These advocates, for example members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), base their genocidal principles on topics such as racial purity and progress. This is fascinating topic; and although it falls outside the scope of this particular paper, it represents a fascinating area for future academic research. Eugenics — which is defined by many people as “good genetics” — is a fascinating, but complicated and controversial topic that has sparked attention from both the general public and academicians alike. This concern has been heightened throughout the last century because of numerous disturbing incidents that have been linked to or closely mirror the attitudes and values advocated by eugenics' proponents. Examples of these situations include (but are not limited to): birth control and particularly differentiating access to birth control because of a user's race and / or religion. Individuals may also receive different options for birth control with the favored groups receiving more attractive options where the less favored group may significantly suffer. Another example of eugenics being applied in everyday life is the concept of forced sterilization. Although many people would like to believe that forced sterilization does not happen in the United States (for a variety of reasons), it does have a long and checkered track record of being applied (sometimes fairly and oftentimes unfairly) to individuals. And finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, the topic of genocide closely aligns with some of the theories and activities pushed for by eugenics advocates. Moving forward, although this paper has touched on several important themes, significantly more research needs to be carried out on the real social, economic and political costs of eugenics particularly within the United States.

References
A brief history of birth control in the U.S. (2014). Our Bodies Ourselves. Retrieved from: http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/a-brief-history-of-birth-control/
Kendregan, C. (1966). Sixty years of compulsory eugenics sterilization: Three generations of imbeciles and the Constitution of the United States. Chicago-Kent Law Review, 43, 123.
Norton, M., Sheriff, C., Blight, D., Chudacoff, H., Logevall, F., Bailey, B., & Michals, D. (2012). A People & A Nation. Boston: Wadsworth.
Sanger, A. (2007). Eugenics, race, and Margaret Sanger revisited: Reproductive freedom for all? Hypatia, 22(2), 210-217.
Stanton, G. (2014). What is genocide? Genocide Watch. Retrieved from: http://www.genocidewatch.org
The truth about Margaret Sanger. (2014). Black Genocide. Retrieved from: http://www.blackgenocide.org/sanger.html
Weintraub, R. (1962). The birth rate and economic development: An empirical study. Econometric: Journal of the Econometric Society, 812-817.