An American judge compared abortion to eugenics and it didn't go down well

An American judge drew criticism from historians after he said abortion rights came to be as a result of the eugenics movement – pseudoscience based on a racist prerequisite claiming white American genetics to be superior.

In a court paper on Planned Parenthood, he wrote: “Abortion is an act rife with the potential for eugenic manipulation.”

He went on to talk about the perceived dangers of abortion.

From the beginning, birth control and abortion were promoted as a means of effectuating eugenics.

According to the Washington Post, who spoke to seven historians who are experts on the eugenics movement, Thomas’ assertion is "deeply flawed".

Philippa Levine, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin told the Post:“Thomas is guilty of a gross misuse of historical facts, and especially in the U.S. context” and economist and Historian Thomas C Leonard added that, aside from a constitutional law perspective, what he said is "just bad history".

People online were similarly disinclined to agree with him

His comments come as a number of American states push to ban abortion. State legislators in Louisiana backed a bill on Wednesday to prohibit abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

Democrat governor John Bel Adams signed the bill into law on Thursday, prompting mass protests from human rights activists.