Eugenics and euthanasia – then and now

Abstract

A main objective of this article is to give a presentation of the widespread acceptance of eugenics in the twentieth century and to show how the German euthanasia programmes were embedded in eugenic ideology. A second objective is to challenge the notion that eugenics and the practice of euthanasia on disabled people disappeared forever with the ending of the Second World War. The main reason for asking this question is to be found in today's medical practices in relation to inherited disorders and impairments, practices comprising both what can be labelled ‘eugenics light’ and euthanasia on newborns with congenital disorders.

Keywords:

• eugenics
• euthanasia
• disability

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank two anonymous referees and Professor Arvid Heiberg at the Department of Medical Genetics, Rikshospitalet – Oslo for their comments to an earlier version of this paper.