I thought the topic of this essay was very interesting. I agreed with the author that handicapped babies should not be killed. Doing that makes it seem as unfeeling as returning a sweater. Of course I thought the author had some bias considering her position, but it would be completely impossible not to be. I was surprised that Peter Singer actually had that point of view, because he was very kind to Harriet McBryde Johnson the entire time and he seemed like a well-educated man; and that kind of thinking seems like it is for very ignorant people.
Although I felt bad for the author throughout the entire essay, I did not exactly like her. She was rude the entire time. I also felt as though she was trying to jam her opinion down everyone else’s throat the entire time. At one point, she even says, “In fact, no god put anyone anywhere for any reason, if you want to know.” She does not say, “This is my opinion…” but instead forces it onto the readers. She might even alienate some of her readers if they are super religious. However, I couldn’t say that if I was in her position that I wouldn’t be like that. I guess it’s difficult to blame her for being bitter or upset, because she has to deal with a lot to go through the most simple tasks.
I also liked her point that someone’s physical state does not mean that they have a better quality of life. There are plenty of people that are perfectly healthy, but waste their life away on drugs and do not do anything worthwhile. Even though Johnson was severely handicapped, she was a lawyer successful enough to work for an influential organization and lecture at Princeton University, which not many able-bodied people have done.
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