Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century

Author Harriet McBryde Johnson is an attorney and disability rights activist. Johnson is disabled due to neuromuscular disease and requires the use of a motorized wheelchair. This essay details her 2002 debate with Dr. Peter Singer, an animal rights activist and bioethics professor at Princeton.

Singer argues in favor of selective infanticide and assisted suicide in cases of disability, which Johnson opposes. Singer argues that selective infanticide is ethical. He argues that infants aren’t people because they lack self-awareness. His arguments rely on the belief that disabled people are automatically “worse off” than able-bodied people. Johnson rejects this assumption.

Johnson ponders her personal and strategic reasons for accepting Singer’s invitation to speak at Princeton. She and her colleagues at Not Dead Yet (a disability advocacy group) regard Singer as genocidal. To engage with him civilly would “legitimate” his beliefs, but rejecting his invitation would make their cause look bad. After a series of friendly emails, Johnson and Singer arranged their debate at Princeton.

Johnson glibly refers to Singer as “the Evil One” in her narration but finds that, despite his beliefs, he is very respectful toward her and even makes good company. He helpfully accommodates her needs and is amicable with her.