Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Disability Activists call for Princeton University Professor Peter Singer's Resignation




By Nicole Mulvaney
For NJ.com


Princeton - Protesters last Wednesday afternoon called for the resignation of Peter Singer, a Princeton University professor whose controversial remarks about people with disabilities continue to ignite tensions.

Some activists sitting in motorized wheelchairs and others standing could be seen downtown at the corner of Witherspoon and Nassau streets outside Nassau Hall. Princeton Police Sgt. Steve Riccitello said the protest began at about 2:20 p.m. on the sidewalk opposite Palmer Square and spilled onto the roadway.

"Traffic was stopped on Nassau St. for about 20 mins. until we convinced the protesters to return to the sidewalk," Riccitello said. "No arrests were made and no summonses were issued."

Participants included disability rights activists from Pennsylvania Not Dead Yet and New Jersey centers for independent living, along with groups representing parents of people with disabilities.
See the video below on the protest
 

The 68-year-old bioethics professor, who is known as an advocate of animal rights, has garnered criticism for supporting euthanasia for disabled infants.

Similar protests erupted when the university hired Singer in 1999, with people taking to the streets with signs reading "What ethic would kill a disabled infant?"

Baby dolls laid in an open coffin Wednesday as protesters held signs urging Princeton University to publicly denounce recent statements by Singer promoting ending the lives of disabled infants through denial of health care.




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