I am here tonight [at the U of M’s Peter Singer talk] with my son Kylen. Kylen is 11 years old. He has mental retardation and Cerebral Palsy. According to Peter Singer my son is a “non-person” because of his “severe intellectual disabilities.” He would define my son Kylen as a NON PERSON!
He says a “non-person” has no right NOT to be killed. He says that my son’s life is less worth living than a person without disabilities. Peter Singer believes that parents should be able to kill their babies with disabilities one month or more after they are born.
Singer’s views turn my son into a non-person with no protections and no rights. He would say that Kylen is, “life unworthy of life.” Singer says that my son is morally insignificant to society! He degrades, devalues, and dehumanizes people with disabilities to promote the rights of animals.
This is unnecessary, discriminatory, and oppressive to people living with disabilities. Peter Singer’s hate filled speech is sanctioned by universities across this country. The University of Minnesota is paying him $7,500 per hour to speak here tonight on our campus. He is given an academic STAMP of approval to spew intolerance and prejudice against people with disabilities. He is highly respected, admired, and popular in academia. And this is why it is SO important that we are all here tonight!
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents Mission Statement is: “In all of its activities, the University strives to sustain an open exchange of ideas in an environment that embodies the values of academic freedom, responsibility, integrity, and cooperation; provides an atmosphere of mutual respect, free from racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and intolerance.”
I am here to tell the Board of Regents, The University of Minnesota, Peter Singer, and all of tonight’s attendees that Peter Singer violates the U of MN Board of Regent’s mission statement. Peter Singer’s invitation is irresponsible, without integrity, provides people with disabilities with absolutely NO RESPECT, and is fraught with prejudice and intolerance toward my son Kylen, and all people in the State of Minnesota living with disabilities and the people who love and care for them.
