ADAPT in DC This Week

This week, ADAPT, the national grassroots disability rights group, has been in Washington, DC.  Some 500 members of ADAPT - most of whom have significant disabilities - are there to let Congress know that this group of stakeholders knows exactly what's at stake with current budget proposals, especially the cynical and draconian budget proposal being pushed by Paul Ryan.

So why are we writing about it here?

First and foremost, NDY is a disability rights group - and without ADAPT's example and longstanding leadership on disability rights issues, NDY might not exist at all.  Second, NDY's concerns aren't limited to opposing legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia.  We oppose any policies or practices that threaten the lives of people with disabilities.  And make no mistake - the proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare - under the laughable guise of "shared sacrifice" represents a big threat to the lives and welfare of people with disabilities of all ages.

I guess the idea of cutting off people's supports for employment and living at home are more palatable than hypothetical "death panels" for some people.  The idea that people can be forced to be warehoused and quietly die in institutions as those supports are withdrawn can make the body count harder to ignore.

Enough from me, though.  Here's some info on what ADAPT has been doing this week, including today:

Press Releases:

• ADAPT FIGHTS MEDICAID CUTBACKS; OCCUPIES CANNON ROTUNDA; ARRESTS MADE 
• ADAPT STORMS CONGRESS AGAIN: DEMANDS PAUL RYAN WITHDRAW

Press Coverage:

• Disability advocates take to Capitol Hill, demand rejection of Ryan budget plan
• 89 arrested in Medicaid plan protest  
• Disability Advocates Arrested On Capitol Hill 
• Disability-rights group protests at Ryan’s office over Medicaid 
• Eighty-Nine Arrested Protesting Paul Ryan's Medicaid Cuts 
• Disability-rights group steps up Ryan protests 

Remember - early deaths through withdrawal of life-sustaining supports and healthcare is every bit as much a government-sponsored "backdoor euthanasia" plan as any rationing plan you could come up with.  It's also 100% predictable that, faced with being forced to living in institutions or living without support or treatment in the community, there will be a big increase in people with disabilities of all ages asking for euthanasia or assisted suicide as a more "humane" option.  People who want to yank supports from the old, ill, poor and disabled will bear responsibility for that when it starts to happen.  --Stephen Drake