80 Years Ago Today: Buck v. Bell

(Hat tip: Amy Welborn)

I don't generally agree with Morning's Minion (aka "Tony A"), with whom I've had my fair share of clashes and who I consider have accused (perhaps unfairly, perhaps not) of being a Democrat shill whose sole purpose in the Catholic blogosphere appears to be to try to convince as many pro-life Catholics as possible to vote for the party that supports abortion-on-demand, embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, etc.

But, every once in a while, Tony A manages to come up with something useful, such as this post about the horrendous Buck v. Bell decision 80 years ago today, which constitutionally validated America's initial foray into eugenics:

... There was a lone dissenter in the case, who happened to be the only Catholic justice on the court, Pierce Butler. With the benefit of hindsight, we look back in horror at this decision. It was a naked appeal to moral relativism, an exercise in callous utilitarianism. Nowhere did it acknowledge the God-given human dignity of the person in question. And yet, the Catholic justice stood alone. Perhaps he was the subject of anti-Catholic attacks for his dissent. Did he see something the others could not?

Eighty years into the future, will people be looking back and applauding the stance of the Catholic justices in Gonzales v. Carhart, wondering in horror how the weight of established opinion favored such a procedure that again appealed to cold utilitarianism?

Not if Tony A's party and preferred candidates have their way.