I briefly deal with this issue above, essentially saying that the term needs to be rehabilitated because it is already applied to many different phenomena/interventions and all of these fit the literal definition of eugenics. And I think the benefits of discussing eugenics openly outweigh the risks. What I didn’t get into is that terms like “reprogenetics” and “liberal eugenics” have really not been taken up.
“While progressives maintain that abortion on the basis of disability is not eugenics, they have criticized many other individual choices as eugenics. For example, in 2019 George Church discussed his plans to make a genetic matchmaking app, digid8, which would prevent people with rare genetic diseases from meeting each other. This would diminish the risk of passing a disability onto their offspring (a similar approach to that used by Dor Yeshorim). This private company’s service—which people would have to opt into and pay for—caused huge controversy over its eugenic implications. Another individual choice, using genetic screening to choose an embryo to implant during invitro fertilization (IVF), is also widelyassociatedwitheugenics, especially if parents select for cosmetic features like eye color. If the individual choice of using a dating app or engaging in embryo selection is eugenics, certainly the individual choice to terminate a pregnancy on the basis of disability also fits this definition.”
I get that newer practices fall under the meaning of eugenics in Greek. But still, wouldn’t it be better to use a word that isn’t associated with the racist type of eugenics?
Is the idea to fully confront the arguments/controversies that come up over the “eugenic implications” of newer reproductive technologies?
I briefly deal with this issue above, essentially saying that the term needs to be rehabilitated because it is already applied to many different phenomena/interventions and all of these fit the literal definition of eugenics. And I think the benefits of discussing eugenics openly outweigh the risks. What I didn’t get into is that terms like “reprogenetics” and “liberal eugenics” have really not been taken up.
Here is an excerpt from another piece I wrote on how common it is to label individual choices eugenics:
“While progressives maintain that abortion on the basis of disability is not eugenics, they have criticized many other individual choices as eugenics. For example, in 2019 George Church discussed his plans to make a genetic matchmaking app, digid8, which would prevent people with rare genetic diseases from meeting each other. This would diminish the risk of passing a disability onto their offspring (a similar approach to that used by Dor Yeshorim). This private company’s service—which people would have to opt into and pay for—caused huge controversy over its eugenic implications. Another individual choice, using genetic screening to choose an embryo to implant during invitro fertilization (IVF), is also widely associated with eugenics, especially if parents select for cosmetic features like eye color. If the individual choice of using a dating app or engaging in embryo selection is eugenics, certainly the individual choice to terminate a pregnancy on the basis of disability also fits this definition.”
I get that newer practices fall under the meaning of eugenics in Greek. But still, wouldn’t it be better to use a word that isn’t associated with the racist type of eugenics?
Is the idea to fully confront the arguments/controversies that come up over the “eugenic implications” of newer reproductive technologies?
“Is the idea to fully confront the arguments/controversies that come up over the “eugenic implications” of newer reproductive technologies?”
Yes, exactly. The advent of polygenic screening and the first people to use it to select embryos has brought this issue to the fore.