Euthanasia/ Doctor-Assisted Suicide: A Historical Perspective
FREDERICTON - Assisted suicide, abortion, contraception. What do they have in common? Eugenics. That’s what Dr. Ian Dowbiggin thinks. He’s a professor of history at the University of Prince Edward Island and the author of A Merciful End: The Euthansia Movement in Modern America. He said scratch the surface of any of these topics and what you’ll find are unsettling connections to the failed science of eugenics - which advocates encouragement or discouragement of certain types of reproductive practices for the "betterment of society."
Dr. Dowbiggin, who was raised a Catholic, was a keynote speaker at the annual general meeting of the New Brunswick Right to Life Association in Fredericton last week. He told them that while the pro-abortion and assisted suicide movements may have different faces, they share many of the same supporters, and more importantly, the same founders.
"History teaches us that many of the same people who advocated for abortion rights, birth control, population control, sex education," he said. "It’s the same cast of characters."
Pope John Paul II talked about a "cult of death" as one of the reasons why abortion and euthanasia have gained support. Dr. Dowbiggin said there's some historical support for the late Pope's theory. The best example of this is Margaret Sanger, a pioneer of birth control and abortion rights. Ms. Sanger made her mark in 1930's in the slums of New York counselling immigrant women. Her ideas of women's rights and contraception were revolutionary at the time, and still arouse controversy today.
"Ms. Sanger was a prime supporter of eugenic sterilization. She was also a supporter of euthanasia. There's a lot of connections between these seemingly different movements," he said.
One example, he said is the overlap between members of the board of Planned Parenthood of America and the board of directors of euthanasia and eugenics organizations in the period between the 1930's until the 1970's. Ms. Sanger is again an example. She was on the board of Planned Parenthood and the Euthanasia Society of America.
Even Planned Parenthood of America acknowledged part of Ms. Sanger's eugenics past. They admitted she favoured incentives for the voluntary hospitalization and/or sterilization of people with untreatable, disabling, hereditary conditions, the adoption and enforcement of stringent regulations to prevent the immigration of the diseased and "feebleminded" into the US, and placing so-called illiterates, paupers, unemployables, criminals and prostitutes on farms and open spaces as long as necessary for the strengthening and development of moral conduct. However, they deny many of the racist accusations levelled at Ms. Sanger by her critics, saying she supported women of colour.
"Planned Parenthood Federation of America finds these views objectionable and outmoded," they said by way of explanation on their Web site. "...attempts to discredit the family planning movement because its early 20th-century founder was not a perfect model of early 21st-century values is like disavowing the Declaration of Independence because its author, Thomas Jefferson, bought and sold slaves."
In Canada, Dr. Dowbiggin pointed to leading abortion advocate Dr. Henry Morgentaler. When accepting an honorary degree from Western University earlier this year Dr. Morgentaler said abortion had made society safer by reducing crime. "Definitely what Morgentaler was saying was eugenics," said Dr. Dowbiggin.
The argument that Dr. Morgentaler made is one made by many others. Basically, it said that the legalization of abortion on the 60's and 70's has led to the drop in crime rates today. Abortion, they argue, removed so-called "unwanted children", who proponents say are disproportion ally represented in the ranks of criminals.
"I won't speak for Mr. Morgentaler and how he rationalizes that. The fact is that has been questioned by some social scientists. Incidentally, Henry Morgentaler said the next big issue he thinks is important is euthanasia. That's not surprising," said Dr. Dowbiggin.
Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland all have assisted suicide laws. In North America, only the state of Oregon has followed suit. "In England right now there is a great deal of debate. There is a bill before the House of Lords this fall. That's been going on in England for decades. Various bills have made it to the House of Commons and have died," he said.
While assisted suicide has been on the front burner of politics and religion for years, the debate has been going on for more then 150 years. "What's changed is that there is more grassroots support for assisted suicide. I guess that peaked in the 1980's and 1990's and it had a lot to do with the so-called greying of society - the unprecedented historical situation in which people in greater numbers than ever before were surviving into one's golden years. It meant that a lot of people had to face this situation. That had a great sobering effect on society," he said.
Despite the great leaps of technology that are helping us live longer, the arguments both for and against suicide haven't changed much, he said. "This is what gives the whole debate surrounding euthanasia a timeless quality.. It's ironic. If you listen to the leasing right-to-die spokespeople have said going back 150 years what you find is there isn't that much difference to that what [their advocates] are saying today."
There will be a price to pay for society's embracement of contraception and abortion - a smaller population. "What that means there are fewer and fewer children growing up to be adults and they are the folks on whom programs like social security and Medicare depend." And that's a problem when our society is getting older. The Baby Boomers are growing old fast. Who will be there to pay for their needs, he asked.
"Who's going to pay for the senior's programs? Where have all the babies gone?" said Dr. Dowbiggin. "It raises one question to my mind about the contraceptive revolution. Was it worth it?"
