But there are some eerie parallels between Singer's views and those of the medical establishment of the early Hitler days. The Nazis' first systematic attempt to eliminate a defined population group was directed at severely disabled children. Infants are a logical place to start. They are not productive and can't speak. A language shift paved the way.
Singer denies some handicapped babies the protection of the word person .
The Nazis thought to do that too, preferring the word abortions for disabled infants. Started out subtly. In the Nazi culture, the initial step onto the slippery slope was to deny that rights were inherent in every person. Instead, rights came to depend on physical ability or intelligence, as personhood for Singer now depends on self-awareness. After this ethical wedge was in place, the only question was who would decide which lives were worth living.