Yesterday, we launched our Change.org petition “Denounce Lethal Anti-Disability Healthcare Policy Advocated by Peter Singer.” We presently have over 300 people who have signed on to the petition. Please add your own name by clicking here and following the directions.
In addition to the statement we shared and quoted from the National Council on Disability, there are two other important reactions to Singer’s latest assault on the lives and value of disabled people.
Long-time ADAPT leader Bob Kafka disseminated the following letter to fellow disability activists yesterday:
Dear Trustees of Princeton:
Peter Singer has the right to say anything he wants but a prestigious university is under no obligation to give him a platform to promote the killing of people with disabilities.
Would you have him head of a department if he justified the Nazi “final solution” by coming up with an inferiority equation on who lives and who dies?
What about the extermination of Transgender people because they didn’t conform to his equation of normalcy?
How about if he advocated the sterilization of all mothers on welfare if they have more than one child?
Peter Singer is an embarrassment to Princeton and a danger to people with disabilities and families with children with disabilities.
Please ask him to resign.
Bob Kafka
ADAPT of Texas
Kathy Brill, Executive Director of Parent to Parent USA, is circulating a letter she’s written to Princeton Trustees:
April 27, 2015
Dear Princeton University Board of Trustees,
As a national organization representing hundreds of thousands of families who have children with disabilities and special healthcare needs of all ages, Parent to Parent USA is appalled at Dr. Peter Singer’s position of infanticide for babies and children born with significant disabilities and health care needs, and join the movement demanding his resignation from Princeton University.
Recognizing our history as a disability movement, we acknowledge the difficulties previous families have faced with their children being born with certain severe health and disability conditions. Many of us have been told by health care professionals that our children would not be capable of living fulfilling lives and that their impact on our lives and our family’s would be detrimental. Yet, overwhelming numbers of families have stories that prove doctors and other professionals to be wrong in this prognosis. Our children have defied the professional’s predictions and have gone on to have productive lives. And, science and technology move forward with exponential leaps and bounds, assisting our children to meet high expectations and quality of life.
Parent to Parent USA provides access to quality parent to parent support across the country; providing emotional, informational and systems navigational support to families of children and young adults with disabilities and special health care needs. Parent to parent support helps families realize the full potential of their children – focusing on their abilities, rather than their disabilities; connects families to their community; and promotes the importance of raising all of our children to be contributing members of society. Does this sound familiar? It should, since it is Princeton University’s mission to inspire students to realize their full potential through self-discovery, connection to community, meaningful work, a love of learning, and a life of purpose.
In summary, Dr. Peter Singer’s position lacks reality, scientific insight, and any forethought regarding the impact his position would have on the uniqueness for freedom, democracy, and civil rights enjoyed by the members of our nation. Parents feel certain that Dr. Singer would better understand the lack of logic involved within his position if he had personal life experiences in this field.
Sincerely,
Kathy Brill
Executive Director