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11 In Pub. Interest 1 (1991)
Reproduction with Technology: The New Eugenics

handle is hein.journals/bufpij11 and id is 7 raw text is: REPRODUCTION WITH TECHNOLOGY: THE NEW EUGENICS? Margaret Phillips* INTRODUCTION Reproductive technologies provide more than reproductive choice for women; they provide a means to control who procreates and what types of babies are born, a means of eugenic control. Although the eugenic goal of bettering American society by purging it of the growing numbers of immigrants and mental defectives supposedly has been rejected, the rush toward technological methods of procreation suggests the survival of eugenic ideas. For advocates of both eugenics and reproductive technology, procreation is a cure for societal ills such as mentally or physically challenged humans. As long as the idea of solving social problems through biological transformation retains a foothold in American consciousness, reproductive technologies must be evaluated according to their potential for achieving the biological transformation visualized by eugenicists - a homogeneous, white, middle and upper class population. Reproductive technologies such as prenatal screening, artificial insemination by donor (AID) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) make having a baby like taking a trip to the mall: we can choose the best baby by choosing the best sperm, the best ova, or by choosing to abort a child that is defective. Choosing the best baby is a profoundly political choice, exposing our biases and shaping the issue of reproductive freedom. In Part I, I give an overview of eugenics and the early birth control movement which demonstrates how issues of reproductive control were originally influenced by the racist and classist biases of eugenics. In Part II, I discuss the most common types of prenatal screening and how our prejudice against the disabled can contribute to a eugenic use of screening procedures. This discussion illustrates how our use of technology can be grounded in political beliefs such as stereotyping the disabled as useless and costly - which then contributes to eugenic practices. In Part III, I explore the eugenic appeal of artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. In Part IV, I discuss how economic and legal barriers deny access to reproductive technologies to women of color, the disabled, gays and lesbians, and the poor. Whether denial of access is implicit or explicit, it serves to perpetuate surviving eugenic ideals by preventing procreation of the defectives. Finally, in Part V, I explore some directions for policies that could reduce the eugenic impact of reproductive technologies. J.D. candidate at State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.

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