 |
| Meghan Schrader |
Meghan is an autistic person who is an instructor at E4 - University of Texas (Austin) and an EPC-USA board member.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is a cornerstone USA disability rights law that has existed since 1977. During the Biden administration, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act was updated to include new provisions, collectively referred to as The Final Rule. Among many important stipulations that have nothing to do with human sexuality, the Final Rule includes defining gender dysphoria as a disability for which people must receive reasonable accommodations. This change, has helped incentivize 17 states to file a federal lawsuit to block the implementation of the Final Rule. Some people who have filed the lawsuit have stated that it applies only to the Final Rule regulation about gender dysphoria, and some of the press coverage implies this as well.
But that’s not what the lawsuit says. Count 3 of the lawsuit reads:
DEMAND FOR RELIEF Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court:
a. Issue permanent injunctive relief against Defendants enjoining them from enforcing the Final Rule;
b. Declare that the Final Rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act;
c. Hold unlawful and set aside (i.e., vacate) the Final Rule;
d. Declare Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794, unconstitutional;
e. Issue permanent injunctive relief against Defendants enjoining them from enforcing Section 504
“Hold unlawful and set aside (I.e., vacate) the Final Rule,” “Declare Section 504, 29 U.S.C. 794 unconstitutional” and “issue permanent injunctive relief against the defendants enjoining them from enforcing Section 504” indicates that the lawsuit would vitiate the whole Final Rule and Section 504 itself, not just the part of the Final Rule about gender dysphoria. In the lawsuit the states argue: “Section 504 is coercive, untethered to the federal interest in disability, and unfairly retroactive.” The lawsuit also asserts: “The Rehabilitation Act fails to provide clear notice to States, preventing States from voluntarily and knowingly exercising choice in accepting federal funds…Section 504’s universal scope unfairly surprises States by retroactively adding conditions to pre-existing federal spending programs.”
Section 504 is the legal scaffolding for society’s moral obligations to people with disabilities. As a disabled person, Section 504 has been one of the only ways that I have been able to protect my civil rights, such as when I was integrated into mainstream classes during my K-12 education and went through the process of earning two Master’s degrees. Section 504 forms the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act, Olmstead and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. Repealing any of these laws carries a very high risk of undermining disabled people’s access to education, jobs, social services, medical care and much more. The segregation and oppression of disabled people could increase exponentially.
Eliminating the Final Rule completely would deprive the disabled community of important new rights. The Final Rule contains new provisions to reduce disabled people’s risk of being institutionalized; it requires states to invest more resources in community supports. As someone who has had to spend a lot of time in psychiatric facilities but cannot get all of the community services I need, I promise that this part of the Final Rule is very important. The Final Rule also contains new protections for website accessibility, appropriate medical equipment and disabled parents.
The Final Rule contains a provision that is a huge boon to efforts to stop assisted suicide, coerced DNRs and other life-threatening medical discrimination against people with disabilities. The Final Rule “Requires that medical treatment decisions are not made on the basis of ableist biases or stereotypes about disabled people, assumptions or judgments that an individual with a disability will be a burden on society, or dehumanizing beliefs that the life of an individual with a disability has less value than the life of a person without a disability.” Even without the updated rules, incentivizing disabled people to die by suicide, either interpersonally or systemically, is a very clear violation of Section 504 and the ADA. That is why the United Spinal Association, Not Dead Yet and other groups have used both laws to file a lawsuit to try to eliminate the practice of assisted suicide. Eliminating Section 504 could hinder that lawsuit.
Repealing the entire Final Rule, much less repealing Section 504, could have devastating consequences for all people with disabilities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is one of the building blocks of equal citizenship for disabled people. It contains provisions that save disabled people’s lives and provide a bulwark against the assisted suicide movement’s attacks on disabled people in the United States.
c. Hold unlawful and set aside (i.e., vacate) the Final Rule;
d. Declare Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794, unconstitutional;
e. Issue permanent injunctive relief against Defendants enjoining them from enforcing Section 504
“Hold unlawful and set aside (I.e., vacate) the Final Rule,” “Declare Section 504, 29 U.S.C. 794 unconstitutional” and “issue permanent injunctive relief against the defendants enjoining them from enforcing Section 504” indicates that the lawsuit would vitiate the whole Final Rule and Section 504 itself, not just the part of the Final Rule about gender dysphoria. In the lawsuit the states argue: “Section 504 is coercive, untethered to the federal interest in disability, and unfairly retroactive.” The lawsuit also asserts: “The Rehabilitation Act fails to provide clear notice to States, preventing States from voluntarily and knowingly exercising choice in accepting federal funds…Section 504’s universal scope unfairly surprises States by retroactively adding conditions to pre-existing federal spending programs.”
Section 504 is the legal scaffolding for society’s moral obligations to people with disabilities. As a disabled person, Section 504 has been one of the only ways that I have been able to protect my civil rights, such as when I was integrated into mainstream classes during my K-12 education and went through the process of earning two Master’s degrees. Section 504 forms the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act, Olmstead and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. Repealing any of these laws carries a very high risk of undermining disabled people’s access to education, jobs, social services, medical care and much more. The segregation and oppression of disabled people could increase exponentially.
Eliminating the Final Rule completely would deprive the disabled community of important new rights. The Final Rule contains new provisions to reduce disabled people’s risk of being institutionalized; it requires states to invest more resources in community supports. As someone who has had to spend a lot of time in psychiatric facilities but cannot get all of the community services I need, I promise that this part of the Final Rule is very important. The Final Rule also contains new protections for website accessibility, appropriate medical equipment and disabled parents.
The Final Rule contains a provision that is a huge boon to efforts to stop assisted suicide, coerced DNRs and other life-threatening medical discrimination against people with disabilities. The Final Rule “Requires that medical treatment decisions are not made on the basis of ableist biases or stereotypes about disabled people, assumptions or judgments that an individual with a disability will be a burden on society, or dehumanizing beliefs that the life of an individual with a disability has less value than the life of a person without a disability.” Even without the updated rules, incentivizing disabled people to die by suicide, either interpersonally or systemically, is a very clear violation of Section 504 and the ADA. That is why the United Spinal Association, Not Dead Yet and other groups have used both laws to file a lawsuit to try to eliminate the practice of assisted suicide. Eliminating Section 504 could hinder that lawsuit.
Repealing the entire Final Rule, much less repealing Section 504, could have devastating consequences for all people with disabilities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is one of the building blocks of equal citizenship for disabled people. It contains provisions that save disabled people’s lives and provide a bulwark against the assisted suicide movement’s attacks on disabled people in the United States.
1 comment:
It is so stupid when people deliberately put bad measures into otherwise sensible laws. The results are foreseeable, and as you quite rightly suppose, threaten to set us back years. First, litigating the bill as is. Second, repealing it. Third, replacing it with something that will pass the test of public approval. Apparently, the disabled have once again been held hostage to unrelated ideological over-reach. Very sad indeed.
Post a Comment