Autistic & Down syndrome advocates unite to oppose prenatal eugenics

Saving Downs is delighted to announce that Asperger’s Syndrome/Autistic Spectrum New Zealand and a number of allied organisations have resolved to publicly support and identify with all of our social justice actions.

As autistic advocates, the groups oppose prenatal eugenics against the autistic community in the same way that Saving Downs oppose prenatal eugenics against the Down syndrome community.

This is a significant development in strengthening the voice opposing ideologies that deny those with genetic syndromes from being afforded full human rights on an equal basis with others.

The full text of their letter of support is:

FORMALLY SUPPORTING SAVING DOWNS

“As you know, our organisation has been following and supporting your efforts since inception and we would now like to formalise that support.

So we are writing on behalf of Asperger’s Syndrome/Autistic Spectrum New Zealand (ASNZ), and organisations allied to ASNZ including Aspiehelp, Aspergophobia, Autistic Union, Aspire Trust and the Wider Wellington ASD Group. Our membership and allied groups have been consulted and unanimously wish to publicly support and identify with every effort of Saving Downs, whether it be the ICC Case, representations to Government, publicity or public appeals.

As autistic advocates, upon joining we all assented to the very first Principle of the International Charter of Autistic’s Rights:

“THE RIGHT TO LIFE: We will prevent eugenic elimination of autistic people by opposing pre-natal testing for autism.”

This is one of the major issues current in autistic advocacy circles, and will remain so while the threat of so-called ‘scientific’ steps towards the unwarranted decimation of our culture is so heavily funded both here and overseas at present, in an unholy rush to ‘get us dead’.

We are a growing, vocal and positive community opposed to the heinous idea that people living with any genetic syndrome should not be afforded a full and critical voice, full autonomy to pursue their inalienable rights against whoever would dare put them as individuals or as a class and culture in peril.

We are prime targets through-out life for bullying and presumption also, and we note that the Disability Rights folk in Government have never approached us once in their claimed effort to somehow allow us a participatory role that laws and conventions specifically mention, despite us now being 2% of the population according to the mis-named United States Center for Disease Control and the New Zealand Ministry of Education here also (Letter of J Curzon, Special Needs, 14 April 2013).

We sincerely wish to have the opportunity to be included in any Working Group or other participatory mechanism, having several advocates more than familiar with this issue available around New Zealand.

Please keep us as informed as you can.”

We look forward to supporting each other as our social justice actions gather momentum.