Kill the disabled
Peter Singer, internationally renowned philosopher and ethicist, is well known for advocating euthanasia as a legitimate option for the severely disabled. Not surprisingly, he attracts protests from disabled groups in many places where he speaks. The last such occasion was on Monday night in Adelaide, on which occasion Professor Singer complained that he'd been misinterpreted, and proceeded to offer this defence of his position:
Look, I can certainly understand why people with disabilities feel that they are sometimes a discriminated minority in this country and that they are not treated as well as they should be. But I don't think it's particularly what I'm saying that should be their target. If that's what they want ... if they want to say that having a disability should never be a reason for deciding that it's better that a child should not live, then their target is really the majority of Australians because the majority of Australians support pre-natal diagnosis, and of course that is very commonly followed by termination of pregnancy when a condition like downs syndrome or some other disability is revealed.
So as far as my attitude to people with disability, it's no different from that of the 80 or 85 per cent of Australian women who decide to terminate a pregnancy when they're told that their foetus will have a severe disability. (reported on the ABC AM programme, Tuesday 27 July)
This argument boils down to saying, “Lots of people agree with me that we should be able to kill the disabled, so why pick on me?” His answer offers neither defence nor comfort.
Another unintended irony: Peter Singer's remarks were made after his address at the annual Don Dunstan Human Rights oration.