The eugenics objection to the Norplant for Consenting Teens program argues
that the program has some hidden eugenic agenda. For example, former Ku
Klux Klan leader David Duke proposed a Norplant incentive bill that referred
to young black women by employing code words, such as ‘welfare recipients
in need of birth control education’. Because black women have a
higher pregnancy rate and are more likely to be poor, they are particularly
subject to most all the proposed Norplant policies. This fact, however,
allows others to use the guise of impartiality to cloak an agenda to stop
‘undesirables’, e.g., low income families or particular minority
groups, from breeding. This discriminatory behavior has a history of abuse
with sterilizations, so we should not consider opening another avenue
for this behavior to flourish.
Deterring teenage pregnancies generally improves the socioeconomic situation
of the teens, regardless of race, religion, or economic situation. Several
discriminatory policies that employ Norplant may exist. However, the Norplant
for Consenting Teens policy is not such a policy. The Norplant for Consenting
Teens policy affects all teenagers, unlike policies such as the one proposed
in Kansas, that only affects women on welfare. Since the pregnancy rate
among black teenagers is much higher than other ethnic groups, the policy
helps the black community more. By improving education and the economic
situation of black teenagers, the policy will offer them better socio-economic
opportunities by helping reduce the rate of unwanted or unexpected pregnancies.
Why would this supposed discriminatory agenda specify bettering the education
and the over all standard of living of those whom it intends to ‘victimize’?
This policy hardly fulfills a true eugenicist program because it is more
likely for the targeted group to prosper under these conditions.
Second, having more children does not entail having a healthier community
or ensures the survival of that community. To presume that women of a
community should breed, regardless of the adverse consequences these women
and their children must face, does not seriously demonstrate concern for
members of that community. Having a healthy society, or a fit population,
requires that the offspring have enough resources available to thrive.
Coincidentally, by allowing young members of a community to avoid situations
that will inhibit their ability to acquire resources and to avoid perpetuating
this disadvantage, the Norplant for Consenting Teens program promotes
healthier communities. This is true for any community, regardless of race.
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