Thorny entanglements: feminism, eugenics and the Abortion Law Reform Association's (ALRA) campaign for safe, accessible abortion in Britain, 1936-1967.

For the past two decades anti-abortionists in the Global North have been aggressively instrumentalising disability in order to undermine women's social autonomy, asserting, falsely, there is an insuperable conflict between disability rights and reproductive rights. The utilisation of disability in struggles over abortion access is not new, it has a history dating back to the interwar era. Indeed, decades before anti-abortionists' campaign, feminists invoked disability to expand access to safe abortion. This paper examines the feminist eugenics in the first organisation dedicated to liberalising restrictive abortion laws, the Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRA), established in England in 1936. ALRA played a vital role in the passage of the Abortion Act 1967 (or the Act) that greatly expanded the grounds for legal abortion, a hugely important gain for women in Britain and beyond seeking legal, safe abortions. In addition, the Act permitted eugenic abortion, which also had transnational effects: within a decade, jurisdictions in numerous Commonwealth countries passed abortion laws that incorporated the Act's eugenics clause, sometimes verbatim. This essay analyses ALRA's role in codifying eugenics in the Abortion Act 1967 and argues that from the outset, ALRA was simultaneously a feminist and eugenist association. Initially, ALRA prioritized their feminist commitment to 'voluntary motherhood' in their campaign whereas starting in the 1940s, they subordinated feminism to negative eugenics, a shift that was simultaneously strategic and a reflection of genuine concern to prevent the birth of children with disabilities.

"A Vigorous Campaign against Abortion": Views of American Leaders of Eugenics v. Supreme Court Distortions.

The Supreme Court decided Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky in 2019. Justice Clarence Thomas's opinion in the case claimed there was a direct connection between the legalization of abortion, in the late 20th Century, and the beginnings of the birth control movement a full three quarters of a century earlier. "Many eugenicists," Thomas argued, "supported legalizing abortion."Justice Samuel Alito highlighted similar claims in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, citing a brief entitled "The Eugenic Era Lives on through the Abortion Movement." That brief was an echo of Justice Thomas' misguided attempt at history in the Box opinion. Similar claims reoccur in Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's opinion in the Texas mifepristone case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.These false claims are the focus of this article. There is no evidence that early leaders of the eugenics movement supported abortion as part of the movement for birth control. It is accurate to describe those leaders as anti-abortion, and their followers as people who condemned abortion for moral, legal, and medical reasons.

Past: Imperfect; Future: Tense.

How should the field of bioethics grapple with a history that includes ethicists who supported eugenics, scientific racism, and even Nazi medicine and also ethicists who created the salutary policy and practice responses to those heinous aspects of medical history? Learning humility from studying historical errors is one path to improvement; finding courage from studying historical strengths is another, but these can be in tension. This commentary lays out these paths and seeks to apply them both to a contemporary challenge facing the field: why hasn't bioethics been more at the forefront of efforts to address inequities in health and health care?

"Not by a Decree of Fate:" Ellen Richards, Euthenics, and the Environment in the Progressive Era.

In 1904, Ellen Richards introduced "euthenics." By 1912, Lewellys Barker, director of medicine and physician-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, would tell the New York Times that the "task of eugenics" and the "task of euthenics" was the "Task for the Nation." Alongside the emergence of hereditarian eugenics, where fate was firmly rooted in heredity, this article places euthenics into the same Progressive Era demands for the scientific management over environmental issues like life and labor, health and hygiene, sewage and sanitation. I argue that euthenics not only heralded women as leaders in the quest for what Richards and eugenicists termed "racial improvement," but also aimed to make reforms through environmental and educational changes rather than hereditary interventions. Seeking to recuperate the figure of Ellen Richards in the history of science, I place Richards and her euthenics more into the debate over eugenics rather than over the emergence of home economics. Building on the work of Donald Opitz, Staffan Bergwik, and Brigette Van Tiggelen, this article shows, first, how Richards' career threads the needle between the home and the laboratory as sites of science making, not as separate spheres but as overlapping realms, and helps recover how domestic concerns shaped the focus of the life sciences. Second, this article shows how euthenics shaped eugenics by looking at the writings of American eugenicists Charles Davenport, Paul Popenoe, and David Starr Jordan. Third, the article describes how euthenics took root in new academic departments of domestic science, home economics, and departments child welfare and family life in the 1920 and 1930s, most notably the department of euthenics at the Kansas State Agricultural College from 1926 and the Institute of Euthenics at Vassar College after 1923.

Addressing the paradox: Health expansion threatening sustainable healthcare.

We need to address the paradox that health expansion threatens sustainable healthcare as anti-aging drugs are on the trail from trial to the market and come together with health enhancement measures changing demography and the health of populations. This poses global, social, and professional problems, and challenges clinical medicine as well as health policy. To handle the emerging challenges, we need to address four crucial issues: (1) injustice (access), (2) sustainability, (3) basic human rights, and (4) eugenics. To do so we need to differentiate between health improvements and health enhancements and reinforce medicine's strongest moral appeal: to reduce suffering.

Nursing and eugenics in the early 20th century United States.

BACKGROUND: Research has documented how ideas about race, class, ethnicity, ableism, and structural hierarchies determine health outcomes and disparities today. The historical role of nursing practice and education needs further exploration. PURPOSE: This study aims to better understand how some nurses thought about and interacted with eugenics in the early 20th century. METHODS: Historical analysis of primary and secondary sources. DISCUSSION: In the early 20th century, reformers of the day, including some nurses, demonstrated much ambiguity of thinking as they pushed for eugenic improvement of the "human race" while also enhancing environmental changes, such as good nutrition and clean, safe housing. CONCLUSION: Nursing's past relationship with eugenics sheds light on the history and construction of the system leading to health disparities among marginalized groups. Nurses must acknowledge the historical roots and context of their education and practice as we engage in critical conversations about social inequities.

Choosing the best apple: counselling leaflets and technologies of communication in the history of reproduction.

Historians have shown how the establishment of human genetic counselling in West Germany was characterised by several sociohistorical factors, in particular the impact of the legacies of Nazi biopolitics. These accounts have reconstructed continuities on an intellectual level which delayed a turn towards non-directive approaches, emphasising individual (emotional) well-being and voluntariness, and instead have prolonged a discourse that defined disability as an economic and social burden. However, while the distinct legacies of eugenics and racial hygienics are well researched, other factors that constituted counselling encounters, such as the ways of communicating reproduction and material objects' roles in transformations of concepts, actors and their relations, have not been examined in detail. Drawing on the archives of a Marburg-based charity, this paper aimed to reconstruct these factors at the example of the production and circulation of a major family planning leaflet, Our Child Shall Be Healthy, developed ca 1977. In doing so, I want to suggest that connections between science, politics and economy were a key element in technologies of communicating reproduction. This essay approaches counselling as a communicative practice that was in continual productive engagement with different concepts of reproductive health. First, it argues that the communicative and paper technologies used in counselling interactions in West Germany changed in the aftermath of the worldwide thalidomide tragedy. Second, it argues that a novel approach to reproductive health emerged that focused on individual decision making as the basis of prosperity and emotional well-being. Taking a family planning leaflet as a site for reconstructing how people of different organisations, with different stakes and expertise converged in the design of a counselling encounter, this paper targets the crossroads of economic, political and scientific activities in the history of communicating reproductive health and reproductive risks.

Between scientific dissemination and late-stage eugenics: ruptures and continuations in the intellectual trajectory of Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr., 1898-1988. / Entre a divulgação científica e a eugenia tardia: rupturas e permanências na trajetória intelectual de Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr., 1898-1988.

This article analyzes the ruptures from and continuations of eugenicist ideology in the work of Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr., a geneticist and professor at the Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz." Documentary research involving articles, correspondence, and notes from this former director of the Boletim de Eugenia investigates the reshaping of eugenics in the post-1945 context, a time when Piza Jr. began to publicize evolutionism. While Piza Jr. stopped publicly defending eugenics in latter half of the twentieth century, he maintained his racialized notions into the 1950s, corresponded with eugenicist groups in the 1960s, and supported a hierarchical interpretation of human evolution until the late 1980s.

O artigo analisa as rupturas e permanências do ideário eugênico na obra de Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr., professor e geneticista da Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz". A partir da pesquisa documental sobre artigos, correspondências e anotações do ex-diretor do Boletim de Eugenia , investiga-se a reconfiguração da eugenia no contexto pós-1945, momento em que Piza Jr. passou a atuar como divulgador do evolucionismo. Conclui-se que Piza Jr. deixou de defender publicamente a eugenia na segunda metade do século XX, mas manteve a concepção racializada nos anos 1950, correspondeu-se com sociedades eugenistas nos anos 1960 e sustentou a interpretação hierarquizada de evolução humana até final dos anos 1980.

El cine en el aprendizaje de la manipulación genética a través de ciencia ficción en Gattaca (1997) / Cinema in Learning about Genetic Manipulation through Science Fiction in Gattaca (1997)

La manipulación genética ha sido una de las ramas de la biotecnología con mayor desarrollo durante los últimos 20 años. Con la llegada de la técnica CRISPR, la posibilidad de corregir, cambiar y eliminar genes de una secuencia de ADN se ha convertido en una posibilidad de la ciencia. Las tramas de las películas cinematográficas son, en muchas ocasiones, un reflejo realista de aspectos psicosociales de la población, esto puede ser empleado en entornos educativos para mostrar las consecuencias de determinadas situaciones o dilemas morales. Desde un punto de vista didáctico, este estudio interpreta las secuencias más significativas de la película Gattaca (1997), de Adrew Niccol, donde, en un ambiente futurista, se distingue entre seres humanos inferiores no tratados genéticamente y con funciones de poca categoría, o superiores si han sido tratados genéticamente y destinados principalmente a funciones de mayor relevancia como viajes espaciales. El objetivo principal es facilitar la comprensión de conceptos relacionados con la manipulación genética, como el determinismo genético, la eugenesia o la discriminación genética, entre otros, tras el visionado y puesta en común de esta película. (AU)

Genetic manipulation has been one of the most rapidly developing branches of biotechnology over the last 20 years. With the advent of the CRISPR technique, the possibility of correcting, changing and deleting genes in a DNA sequence has become a scientific possibility. Film plots are often a realistic reflection of psychosocial aspects of the population, which can be used in educational settings to show the consequences of certain situations or moral dilemmas. From a didactic point of view, this study interprets the most significant sequences of the film Gattaca (1997), by Andrew Niccol, where, in a futuristic environment, a distinction is made between inferior human beings who have not been genetically treated and have low status functions, or superior human beings who have been genetically treated and are mainly destined for more important functions such as space travel. The main objective is to facilitate the understanding of concepts related to genetic manipulation, such as genetic determinism, eugenics or genetic discrimination, among others, after viewing and sharing this film. (AU)

[Sport and eugenics: the linao game regulation project by the Club de Gimnasia y Deportes, Santiago de Chile, 1929]. / Deporte y eugenesia: el proyecto de reglamentación del linao por el Club de Gimnasia y Deportes, Santiago de Chile, 1929.

The source presented is the Linao Game Regulation Project, prepared by the Club Gimnasia y Deportes, and published in Santiago in 1929. The brochure consists of a speech by Dr. Luis Bisquertt and the normative corpus of linao, an ancestral ball game. Its transcription is useful for the historical study of sport, and research on the modernization of traditions in the national construction. It is also useful to understand the pedagogical and eugenic discourses, associated with the professional activity developed by the first physical education teachers at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Se presenta la fuente Proyecto de Reglamentación de Linao, elaborado por el Club de Gimnasia y Deportes, y publicado en Santiago en 1929. El folleto consiste en un discurso del doctor Luis Bisquertt y el corpus normativo del linao, juego de pelota ancestral. Su transcripción es de utilidad para el estudio histórico del deporte, la investigación sobre la modernización de tradiciones en la construcción de lo nacional, y a su vez, permite comprender los discursos pedagógicos y eugenésicos, asociados a la actividad profesional desarrollada por los primeros profesores de educación física a principios del siglo XX.

The ideological roots of Nazi eugenics in pathology and its pioneers Martin Staemmler, Ludwig Aschoff, Robert Rössle, and Georg B. Gruber.

This study examines the ideological roots of Nazi eugenics and racial hygiene in the medical field of pathology and its key figures Martin Staemmler (1890-1974), Ludwig Aschoff (1886-1942), Robert Rössle (1876-1956), and Georg B. Gruber (1884-1977). The focus is on their specific approaches to racial hygiene and its legitimization by pathology and its representatives. The study is based primarily on the scientific works and statements of these four pathologists on the content of racial hygiene and the impact of these contributions on Nazi eugenics and its practical implementation in the Third Reich. The paper provides three key findings: (1) Staemmler, Aschoff, Rössle, and Gruber each had a significant impact on the implementation of Nazi eugenics and the legitimization of the Third Reich's health and population policies. (2) They all proclaimed the superiority of the Volksgemeinschaft ('people's community') over the individual and pursued the major objective of ensuring Volksgesundheit ('national health') by preventing the spread of hereditary diseases through sterilizations. (3) The specific relationship to racial hygiene was different for each of the four pathologists: Staemmler had a direct vision of racial hygiene in a national socialist context, Aschoff was committed to the subject long before 1933 and used the Nazi rise to power to reaffirm and expand his position, Rössle and Gruber adopted racial hygiene ideas not until the mid-1930 s, but later radicalized their views and lent additional legitimacy to Nazi eugenics in theory and practice. (4) Albeit to varying degrees, all four pathologists bear some responsibility for the medical crimes that resulted from Nazi eugenics and the related policies. It can be concluded that Staemmler, Aschoff, Rössle, and Gruber made considerable contributions to the theory of Nazi eugenics and provided the much-needed scientific legitimization for the Third Reich's health and population policies.

The Colombian Healthy Child Contest: in search of Latin America's "ideal child" in the 1930s.

This article analyzes healthy child contests as a medical and socio-political strategy implemented in Latin America to protect childhood, thus ensuring the future of the "race" and the nation. These contests blended degeneration, racial theories, and state interventionism and gained momentum in the 1930s with the rise of eugenics. This article examines the contest in Colombia, which was implemented under the Liberal Republic (1930-1946); even though this competition was defined by its national context, a broader international perspective improves understanding. Questions are also raised about the efforts of the Liberal government to strengthen the idea of national identity through education and health programs.

[Early Psychiatric Patient Registration and the Case of Wuerttemberg]. / Das "Kataster für württembergische Psychiatriepatienten" und der Beginn der systematischen Patientenerfassung in der Psychiatrie.

This article provides both an analysis of the impact of medical statistics on psychiatric research as well as biographical information on one of its central protagonists, Württemberg medical doctor Wilhelm Weinberg. Against the background of the assumption of genetic inheritance of mental illnesses, a paradigm shift took place in the sense of a further development of so-called statistics for the insane. In addition to innovative diagnostics and nosology of the Kraepelin school, the study of human genetics was expected to become a promising step towards the predictability of mental illnesses. In particular, psychiatrist and racial hygienist Ernst Rüdin did thus integrate Weinberg's research findings. Weinberg became the founding figure of a central patient register in Wuerttemberg. During National Socialism, however, usage of this register shifted from being an instrument for research to one of establishing a hereditary biological inventory.

Healthy, happy, rational: reflections on genetic counselling in the GDR.

The development of genetic counselling in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was closely connected to a well-established system of prenatal care and a process that placed reproductive decisions in the hands of women. It was embedded in the pronatalist reproductive policy of the GDR and a narrative of medical and (socialist) humanistic progress. As in other countries at that time, it promoted the goal of avoiding the birth of children with disabilities and was hence based on ableist premises. In this paper, I focus on communicative aspects of genetic counselling, as it was established in the 1970s and 1980s in university and district clinics. Thus, on the one hand I explore the communication of genetic counselling to the public; and on the other, I study the communication processes in genetic counselling centres themselves. In contrast to the USA, where the 'genetic counsellor' became established as a professional identity in the 1970s, there was no distinct profession of 'genetic counsellor' in the GDR. Instead, counselling was practised by physicians or biologists with a special interest in human genetics. This resulted in a strong emphasis in these clinical encounters on diagnosis and technical solutions, as well as an educational impetus. I propose that an important goal of genetic counselling in the GDR was to generate a sense of 'rationality' in prospective parents. To achieve this, those advocating and giving counselling explicitly sought to distance this practice from the eugenic ideas of the past, and to dispel superstitious ideas of heredity and religious ideas of fate. In addition, they attempted to alleviate emotions such as fear and guilt. It was in that context that counselling physicians and biologists provided interpretations of genetic findings, risk figures and disease values. I show how different interests and experiences shaped these and how risk evaluations structured counsellor-counsellee communication.

The era of the Dawn of Mendelian research in the field of psychiatry: Rüdin's 1922 review paper "regarding the heredity of mental disturbances".

On September 27, 1922, Ernst Rüdin gave an address to the Annual Conference of the German Society of Genetics entitled "Regarding the Heredity of Mental Disturbances." Published in a 37-page article, Rüdin reviewed the progress in the field of Mendelian psychiatric genetics, then hardly more than a decade old. Topics included (a) the status of Mendelian analyses of dementia praecox and manic-depressive insanity which had expanded to include two and three locus and early polygenic models and sometimes included, respectively, schizoid and cyclothymic personalities; (b) a critique of theories for the explanation of co-occurrence of different psychiatric disorders within families; and (c) a sharp methodologic critique of Davenport and Rosanoff's contemporary work which emphasized Rüdin's commitment to careful, expert phenotyping, a primary focus on well-validated psychiatric disorders and not broad spectra of putatively inter-related conditions, and an emphasis on rigorous statistical modeling as seen in his continued collaboration with Wilhelm Weinberg.

Science and pseudo science: racist eugenics in Italy.

In the present article we briefly discuss the historical premises of eugenics. Differences and some analogies between the Latin and the German way of eugenics in the 20th century are presented, until the tragic antisemitic turn. The fate of some children in the South Tyrol border region is also discussed, as well as the role of several anatomo-pathologists as willing executors of autopsies on the victims of the eugenic project of eliminating mentally and physically disabled people.

[A New Approach to the Life and Oeuvre of Karl Leonhard: His Role as a Psychiatrist under National Socialism and the Influence of "Erlangen School" on his Scientific Position]. / Ein neuer werkbiographischer Ansatz zu Karl Leonhard: Seine Rolle als Psychiater im Nationalsozialismus und seine wissenschaftliche Prägung durch die "Erlanger Schule".

AIM: The aim of this study was to present a new approach to the life and oeuvre of Karl Leonhard, focussing on his role as a psychiatrist during the period of national socialism and on his scientific affiliation to the "Erlangen school". METHOD: For the first time, documents from Franconian archives have been evaluated. RESULTS: At the University Hospital of Psychiatry in Erlangen, Leonhard described psychopathological states in a very detailed manner as a main component of his phenomenological approach. Although Leonhard was classified as a "follower" during his denazification, temporarily he was "incriminated" due to a denunciation. CONCLUSION: Leonhard as an opportunist supported the NS racial hygiene without any actual eugenic orientation. Further studies are needed to clarify Leonhard's proclaimed active opposition to NS "euthanasia".