From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: not@chance.dude   
   Subject: Re: Shatner sick of Star Trek feuds   
      
   Quadibloc wrote:   
   Wickeddoll wrote:   
   >> I *do* support sterilizing (you can do that   
   >> temporarily in women - not sure about men) two mentally impaired people   
   >> who want to be sexual partners, or in some cases, marry.  I think that's   
   >> a good idea, but more because I don't think they're equipped to handle   
   >> parenthood, further, the child would (I think) have at least some   
   >> impairment as well, which would make it even *more* difficult.   
   >    
   > In *principle*, I have no problem with that. In practice, though,   
   > programs to sterilize the mentally retarded ended up doing the   
   > following:   
   >    
   > - sterilizing people who were exposed to lead paint, or who were   
   > otherwise harmed environmentally;   
   > - sterilizing the hearing-impaired;   
   > - facilitating sexual abuse of mentally-retarded girls in institutions   
   > who wouldn't normally even had the opportunity to get pregnant.   
      
   Sometimes that protects the girl - I'm sure you've heard of attendants    
   raping these girls.  One scumbag raped and impregnated a comatose girl    
   (she was not mentally impaired)  It *is* a very sticky question, but if    
   I were the parent and/or custodian of a mentally impaired person, I'd    
   opt for sterilization in an institution, along with regular physical    
   examinations to protect them from scumbag attendants passing on    
   diseases.  I've never heard of sterilizing people for *physical*    
   disabilities, though.  Personally, I would leave that decision up to    
   that individual.  I've never seen a person with say, multiple sclerosis    
   who has a family history of it.  But I'm not saying I know the data on    
   it.  I will give you an example of what I think is a terrible decision.    
     Bree Walker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bree_Walker) had genetic    
   testing that told her WELL in advance, that (this was before conception)    
   there was a 50/50 chance of her producing a child with her deformity,    
   ectrodactyly (fused fingers) yet she decided to have not only one child,    
   who had the disease, but another, who also had it.  I feel she should    
   have let that gene die with her, and not inflict it on her kids.  I    
   think she was very selfish to go ahead and conceive, knowing the high    
   probability of passing that on to those children.  I would have never    
   gotten pregnant.   
   >    
   > Thus, except for my opposition to irrationality in general, I'm happy   
   > to see eugenics remain a taboo as long as the odds are that removing   
   > it would only lead to worse irrationalities.   
      
   Much worse - too short, too tall, etc.   
   >    
   > Since bans against incest are... traditional, and well established...   
   > I don't think that *they* are part of a slippery slope to eugenics,   
   > any more than the repeal of Prohibition is part of a slippery slope to   
   > the legalization of marijuana, cocaine, and opium. An observer just   
   > arrived from Mars might think that, but that would be the result of   
   > insufficient study of our culture.   
   >    
   > John Savard   
      
   I don't think you can call banning incest true eugenics, I see it as    
   avoiding possibly dangerous abnormalities; like one should not having    
   children when you're HIV-positive, but Karl has a point that you're    
   still manipulating the type of people who are born and who are not.  I    
   did read about a pregnant HIV-positive woman whose baby was virus-free    
   with inutero treatment, but I wouldn't recommend taking that chance.   
      
   A patient once asked me that if I were in his situation, would I have    
   children.  He has sickle cell trait, and so does his wife.  That creates    
   a 50/50 chance of having a child with the disease itself.  I told him I    
   wouldn't - he said that's what *everyone* (including his doctor) had    
   told him.  Looked really sad, poor guy.   
      
   Natalie   
   --    
   "Wicked little doll, you have no soul"   
   (David Byrne, 1997)   
   http://www.supernaturalusa.net   
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