After today’s SCOTUS ruling on Indiana’s law to force people to bury or cremate fetal remains (which is its own flavor of heinous), Thomas wrote a 20 page opinion on why abortion access is just a hop skip and a jump from eugenics https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/052819zor_2dq3.pdf … 2/14
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He stated that “use of abortion to achieve eugenic goals is not merely hypothetical,’ and of course blamed Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood for his misinformed opinion that abortion was a “tool of eugenic manipulation” 3/14
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Thomas gets the history wrong. Sanger and other birth control activists in the early 20th c. were not actually very interested in abortion. Their primary goal was education & dissemination of contraceptives,. Eugenics was a huge influence on her thinking, and on many others. 4/14
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The architects of the eugenics movement weren't deeply invested in abortion as part of their vision. Instead, they advocated eugenic marriage laws, institutionalization of unfit such as folks w/ physical, intellectual, & mental disabilities, & compulsory sterilization laws 5/14
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Of course, definitions of fit/unfit were wrapped up in ideas of race, class, gender, and disability. Here’s the kicker: Sanger got into a bit of a tiff with other eugenicists b/c she had the radical idea that all women should control their own reproduction. Imagine that… 6/14
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Despite what many people think, eugenics was pervasive. Basically EVERYONE is a eugenicist. People of different races and in different national contexts think eugenics is a great idea. Shameless plug here for my work on African Americans and eugenics. https://nursingclio.org/2017/06/01/the-black-politics-of-eugenics/ … 7/14
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Public opinion of eugenics shifted after WWII, but it never goes away. Thomas throws around eugenics because he knows it’s a dirty word now, and it will get folks exercised. Clearly it worked because now I’m writing this thread. 9/14
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If Thomas is really concerned about actual eugenics and wants to be helpful (reader: he does not), he should be an advocate for reproductive rights and reproductive justice. Instead of blowing the eugenics dog whistle, he should support women’s right to choose. 10/14
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Trying to legislate the right to abortion is eugenic. Trying to restrict access to contraceptives because you think you have a right to decide who should and shouldn’t reproduce is eugenic. 11/14
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He almost said something helpful when he mentioned abortion for fetuses w/ disabilities. Disability justice activists have covered this, & he should listen to them. What we can address is the “eugenic impulse” that fuels ableist ways defining which lives are worth living 12/14
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If you’re interested in the history of
#eugenics and birth control, follow these people and read everything they write@pal8g2015@lmacthompson1@nccomfort@jackiantonovich@DorothyERoberts@alondra@myrnperez@aquariumglass@erikadyckhist@mmmanganaro@haw95 13/14Show this thread -
Also
#citeblackwomen Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. 14/14Show this thread
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