When, in April, I read about the disgusting revelations about Hans Asperger, who discovered autism, while I was somewhat disturbed reading about it, I was also very interested. For those who are unaware of the findings, the journal Molecular Autism published a study that used Asperger’s medical records to prove that he regularly referred his patients to Am Spiegelgrund, the Nazi euthanasia clinic in Vienna, where they were among the first victims of the Holocaust. This was contrary to the original narrative about him, as an Oskar Schindler for the disabled who explicitly rejected the Nazi race hygiene ideology. According to these new findings, Asperger regularly condemned children, who he termed “autistic psychopaths”, to death overseen by the Nazi Party. While he was not explicitly involved with the Nazi Party, the most generous thing that could be said about him is that he was apathetic, and simply stood by and watched the genocide of his patients. The reason I found this so interesting is because it contrasts with another well-known scientist, Jerome Lejeune.
Jerome Lejeune was a French scientist who discovered the genetic basis for Down Syndrome. He also discovered the basis for Cri-du-Chat Syndrome. His work was born out of a deep respect for the intrinsic value of every human life, being a devout Catholic who believed that all human beings are made in the likeness and image of God, and a desire to assist those in need by finding cures for their disorders. Lejeune saw his work as predominantly service-based. He worked very closely with his patients at his inexpensive private clinic, taking time away from his research to help them find jobs and educational opportunities. Lejeune’s ultimate goal was prenatal diagnosis, to discover and treat a condition in the womb. Lejeune achieved his goal of prenatal diagnosis. Tragically, he did not achieve the treatment part. Instead, abortion became the next step after a prenatal diagnosis. Lejeune watched in horror as many of his colleagues accepted and even encouraged this anti-human development, condemning Lejeune’s “little ones” to the same fate that befell Asperger’s patients, and on the same basis of a disability. Lejeune was one of the few scientists to speak out against this, referring to it as “chromosomal racism”, a term that we have shortened today to “ableism”. In Lejeune’s native France, the first steps to legalize abortion specifically targeted these “defective” fetuses. Lejeune would not have this. In 1969 when he won the William Allen award, he used his acceptance speech to buck the trend of the medical community and passionately defend the right to life of his patients. Lejeune, whose rising popularity up to that point probably would have earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine, became a social pariah. He lost his research money and was shunned both professionally and socially by academics and colleagues. This did not stop Lejeune. In 1994, he became the first Chairman of the Pontifical Academy for Life founded by his friend Pope John Paul II. He died shortly after taking the post, still persona non grata to the medical and academic establishment.
Through the stories of these two men, we see two contrasting approaches to treatment of people with disabilities, one of exclusion, genocide, and moral cowardice and one of inclusion, care, and principle. With disability-selective abortion becoming even more common, we are seeing an even more pressing need to choose Lejeune’s approach. We have a moral obligation to follow Lejeune’s example and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, regardless of the risks. When we see the modern-day genocide against the disabled, we cannot stay silent. We must not be like Asperger, amenable to the culture of death, as that would make us enablers. There is disagreement over Asperger’s actual views toward the Nazis. I would say that it does not matter. His silence resulted in complicity. As more and more people see those findings, history will judge Hans Asperger. Once we awaken from this horrible delusion that says that it is even remotely acceptable to slaughter an entire human population wholesale due to genetic differences, history will judge us likewise for our silence. We, as a society, are Hans Aspergers. However, there is a better way and a better model seen in the lives of those like Lejeune. While some of us are willing to apply that model, the dearth of those people is an existential threat to the disability community.
Sources:
https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-018-0208-6#Sec12
https://www.fondationlejeune.org/en/the-foundation/jerome-lejeune/who-was-professor-jerome-lejeune/
https://aleteia.org/2014/01/22/a-saint-for-the-cause-of-life-jerome-lejeune/
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/pattyknap/dr.-jerome-lejeune-hero-of-the-pro-life-movement
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