Filicide

Filicide is the despicable act of murdering your own child(ren). It is always wrong, no matter how "difficult" your child is.
Most filicide perpetrators are mentally healthy.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0058981
==Reasons==
Experts have identified 5 reasons why adults may kill their own children:Why do parents kill their children? The facts about filicide in AustraliaAn Overview of Filicide
#"Altruism" — The offender thinks the child is suffering, and thus kills them in an act of "love," or the offender intends to commit suicide and thinks the child could not cope with being left behind
#Accident — The offender simply intended to beat the child and ended up killing them, or Munchausen by proxy was involved
#Psychosis — Drug use or severe mental illness causes the offender to kill for no clear reason
#Spousal revenge — The offender wants to make their spouse suffer
#Unwanted child — The offender didn't want kids, or doesn't want this particular kid
Some of these overlap with the reasons women induce abortions, though killing a sentient child is obviously far worse.
==Female infanticide==
Some parents kill female infants because they only want male babies. This may be especially prevalent in societies in which male (but not female) children are expected to look after their aging parents, or in which a dowry is necessary for marriage.Female infanticide - BBC
==Killing of disabled children==
When a parent murders a non-disabled child, they may be called "pure evil" or a "monster."IT IS WRONG TO MURDER YOUR DISABLED CHILD - Judy Endow (And they'll deserve it.)
But when the child is disabled, suddenly people trip over themselves in order to justify it.
Media outlets choose to focus on the children's disabilities, and the things they were unable to do (e.g. speaking), or things they did (like screaming or hitting, which obviously non-disabled children never do). The children are portrayed as burdens on their parents, as a way of explaining why their death was logical.When autistic children are murdered - Briannon LeeNew Report Discovers That the Media Normalizes the Murders of People with Disabilities - Paste Magazine It may even be called a "mercy killing," "final act of love," "loving sacrifice," or some other euphemism.ASAN Statement on Sentencing in Jude Mirra’s Murder - ASAN Other people may be told not to judge the murderer.Media erases autistic victims of violence - Miscellany NewsMercy! Here we go again - Ragged Edge Online
Murderers of disabled children may receive sympathy to the point that people argue for a light sentence.Father's Killing of Canadian Girl: Mercy or Murder? - New York Times For example, the two killers of Alex Spourdalakis were only sentenced for 3 years each, despite the horrific brutality of his murder,How Murder Victims With Disabilities Get Blamed For Their Own Deaths - Huffington Post (Note: Contains disturbing details of a child's murder) and the mother of 14-year-old Annie Marshall (who had been shut in a room and slowly starved to death), received only 5 years in prison.Look for Annie, Abuse - Not Dead Yet
While the murderer may claim it was an act of altruism, they may have a history of hating the child's disability, suggesting that the act of cruelty was actually because they didn't want the child.
The Disability Day of Mourning keeps a long list of disabled people murdered by their families.Disability Day of Mourning memorial
===Murder of autistic children===
Autism is a heavily stigmatized disability, and not all parents love their autistic children. Frighteningly, autistic children in particular are more likely to be victims of murder-suicide.Emerging evidence indicates that children with disabilities in general and with autism in particular are frequent victims of murder-suicide - Left Brain, Right Brain
Here is an incomplete list of autistic children and young people who were killed.
* Jude Mirra (8), forcibly poisoned in 2010 by his millionaire motherMillionaire mom who killed autistic son gets 18 years in jail - New York PostNew York executive describes for jury how she killed her son - CNN
* George Hodgins (22), shot and killed in 2012 by his mother
* Daniel Corby (4), drowned in 2012 by his mother;Woman sentenced in tub drowning of autistic son, 4 his mother may have been inspired by the news coverage of George Hodgins' death
* Alex Spourdalakis, a boy who loved music and balloons, brutally murdered in 2013 by his anti-vaxxer mother and his godmother;Alex Spourdalakis - Disability Day of Mourning he was a subject of several Age of Autism blog posts and was likely subjected to various biomedical "cures" before he was killed"Autism biomed" and the murder of Alex Spourdalakis - Science Blogs
* London McCabe (6), a cheerful and loving boy who liked big hats and watching his parents kiss, thrown off a bridge in 2014 by his anti-vaxxer motherThe first Father's Day after his son was killed, Matt McCabe speaks out - The OregonianJillian McCabe Accused of Throwing Autistic Son Off Oregon Bridge - NBC
* Nicholas Ritchett (20), shot and killed in 2015 by his fatherStatement on the Murder of Nicholas Richett - ASAN
* Austin Anderson (19), who was blind and had limited mobility, left in a field to die without water or medication while his physically abusive meth-abusing mother watched in 2016'Let God take you': Woman said she left her blind, autistic son in field until he died, police sayA Woman Brought Her Blind Son With Autism to a Field to Die, Police Say - TIME
* Katie McCarron (3), an intelligent autistic girl who loved singing and walking in tall grass (among many thingsFor Mike and Katie McCarron), was suffocated by her motherKatherine McCarron - Disability Day of Mourning
* Je'Hyrah Daniels (4), thrown into a river in 2018 by her negligent and thieving mother who didn't want an autistic daughterJe-Hyrah Daniels - Disability Day of MourningReport: Mother upset daughter had disability - Fox 13 News
* Sarah Dubois-Gilbeau (5), who loved acting out movie scenes and Lego comic books, beaten to death by her father who didn't like her autismSarah Dubois-Gilbeau - Disability Day of Mourning
* Thomas Valva (8), died of hypothermia after his father forced him to strip naked and sleep outside in freezing conditions while his stepmother sprayed him with cold water.Ex-NYPD officer sobs as he is sentenced to life for murder of eight-year-old son who froze to death in garageEvil stepmother convicted along with dad after boy, 8, froze to death in garage
Many of them are deeply missed by friends and family members, who said they were loving and a joy to have in their lives.Rest for a 5 year old who was killed by her dad - GoFund Me by Chantel DuBoisBoy thrown from Newport bridge remembered at school as a kindergartner 'full of love' - Oregon LiveNeighbor: Mother 'didn’t care' about daughter tossed into Hillsborough River - Tampa BayThe Murder of Katie McCarron - Not Dead Yet None of these children and young people deserved death.
Some members of the autism rights movement have raised concerns that sympathetic media portrayals could be linked to copycat crimes.ASAN Anti-Filicide Toolkit (PDF) For example, 4 days after Autism Speaks released a video in which a mother discussed contemplating murder-suicide, 3-year-old autistic Katie McCarron was murdered by her mother.Katherine Marie “Katie” McCarron - Find a Grave
===Reactions to the murder of kids with disabilities===
Some autistic people, such as writer Mel Baggs, have asked that their death not be treated as justifiable if they are murdered.If I am killed... - Mel Baggs
====Lack of services====
Anti-autism groups including Autism Speaks claim that lack of services drives parents to murder.Murder-suicide underlines strain of autism care - Detroit Free Press
However, this doesn't account for the existence of wealthy murderers, or the existence of murderers who reject help from others.How ASAN Helped Issy Stapleton Get Justice - Thinking Person's Guide to Autism Advocates for autistic people have argued that claiming services will stop murders sounds awfully similar to using children's lives as a bargaining chip.Terrorist Threats - Love Explosions
====Frightening comments by parents====
If anti-vaxxers think that autism has already "stolen" their child and taken away their soulHow to Talk About Vaccines on Television - Nautilus (featuring a terrible quote by Jenny McCarthyThe child's soul, not the murderer's soul. But if anyone's missing a soul here, we'll give you a hint: it's not the child., then murder must not be so bad, since the victim wasn't even a real person.Autpocalypse then, autpocalypse now - Autistext
Members of anti-autism communities have spoken up for murderers and would-be murderers on social media, telling people to "walk in [the murderer's] shoes" before judging them.Mom's alleged attempt to murder autistic teen prompts national, Kalamazoo response - Michigan Live
Understandably, this shocked people. Decent parents of disabled children expressed horror at the idea that it is somehow "normal" to want to kill a child.the road to killing a child - Love ExplosionsAbout the Issy Stapleton Murder/Suicide - Meriah Nichols Autistics, including autistic abuse survivors, have asked why no one ever thinks to walk in their shoes, pointing out how hard it is to be an autistic child whose parent hates autism.Here, try on some of my shoes. - Kassiane Sibley, abuse survivor "I could have been [attempted murder victim] Issy Stapleton," noted autistic writer Kassiane Sibley, whose violent mother threw her against a wall hard enough to dent her skull.I could have been Issy Stapleton. - Kassiane Sibley
The death of a child is a terrible thing, including the death of an autistic child.Anger - Just Keep Stimming
====Fighting ableism====
Members of the autism rights movement have pointed out that the common denominator is likely the horrible belief that children are better off dead than disabled.Why London McCabe's death matters Some murderers have refused to accept their children's disabilities, and have put them through intensive behavior modification or biomedical "treatments" before deciding to kill them.Kelli Stapleton. Still relevant. - Love Explosions "The truth is, Kelli didn’t want Issy anymore. She made it look like it was unselfish and loving, but it was not unselfish and loving," said Eileen Stapleton, grandmother of murder attempt survivor Issy Stapleton.As Kelli Stapleton sentenced in autistic daughter's poisoning, other girl asks: 'What happens to my mom?'
On March 1, many disabled advocates observe the Disability Day of Mourning.
==See also==
* Ableism
* Anti-vaccination movement
* Autism Speaks
* Eugenics
* Abraham
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Ableism