Eugenics and Disability
By Maira Khan
You may be wondering what eugenics means. To put it into simple terms “Eugenics is the scientifically erroneous and immoral theory of “racial improvement” and “planned breeding,” which gained popularity during the early 20th century. Eugenicists worldwide believed that they could perfect human beings and eliminate so-called social ills through genetics and heredity. (Eugenics and scientific Racism).
(image of a tree saying eugenics, with roots connecting to the ground saying genetics, phycology and etc.)
In the late 1800s, Sir Francis Galton promoted contemporary eugenics. Its strategies have frequently involved prejudice. For some scientists in the late 1800s and early 1900s, persons with impairments, those from lower social economic status, and members of any ethnic or racial minority group were inherently considered undesirable. This is because selecting for desirable qualities necessitates defining what is acceptable. In the United States, forced or coerced sterilizations were practiced during the first half of the 20th century, typically targeting people with physical or mental disabilities, those who had committed crimes, Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous people, as well as other vulnerable populations. In Germany, eugenics had a significant role in the Nazi Party’s doctrine. Due to the long history of racism, ableism, classism, and other forms of discrimination the scientific community no longer studies or employs eugenics. However, the growing use of genetic engineering has raised new questions about eugenics. ( Eugenics and Disability Discrimination)
According to Andrea Estrada at UC Santa Barbara, forced sterilization was particularly rampant in California (the state’s eugenics program even inspired the Nazis):
“Beginning in 1909 and continuing for 70 years, California led the country in the number of sterilization procedures performed on men and women, often without their full knowledge and consent. Approximately 20,000 sterilizations took place in state institutions, comprising one-third of the total number performed in the 32 states where such action was legal.” ( The UC Santa Barbara Current).
Works Cited
Green, Eric, “Eugenics and scientific Racism” National Human Genome Research Institute, 14th May 2022,
Estrada, Andrea, “The Politics of Female Biology and Reproduction” The Current, April 6, 2015, https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2015/015287/politics-female-biology-and-reproduction
Abate, Tom, “State’s little-known history of shameful science” March 10, 2003, https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/State-s-little-known-history-of-shameful-science-2663925.php
Pfeiffer, David, “Eugenics and Disability Discrimination” Independent Living institute, 1994, https://www.independentliving.org/docs1/pfeiffe1.html#:~:text=In%20the%20nineteenth%20century%20due,by%20Samuel%20Howe%20in%201849
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