“Public Education” about PWDs hits new low with “Ransom Notes” campaign

December 12, 2007action alert, activism, advocacy, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…d campaigns like yours give legitimacy to the taking away of the civil and human rights of people with disabilities. It is true that diagnoses of ADHD, autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and OCD often accompany great hardships for families. It is true that depression and bulimia are terrible disorders that require treatment. Yet, the way you choose to convey those messages is inappropriate and counterproductive. Individuals with disabilities are not rep…

FDA, Lack of Oversight and Doctors Who Break the Law

October 5, 2007FDA, Our News & Commentary Blog, professional accountability, researchStephen Drake

…m: A new report from the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services paints a very grim picture as to how well the FDA protects Americans who are subjects in human experimentation. The FDA is called on the carpet for not knowing how many experiments are actually being done in the United States. The report also faults the FDA for inadequate audits of research sites and a failure to ensure compliance with its orders when FDA ins…

ADAPT Confronts HUD in DC (Day 1)

September 15, 2008activism, ADAPT, Our News & Commentary Blog, policyStephen Drake

…Housing Amendments Act requirements could also be used to supplement this trust fund. • Congress and the President enact the Inclusive Home Design Act (H.R. 4202 in the 110th Congress). • HUD end the practice of funding townhomes. Townhomes are inaccessible by design. Our Government should not be in the business of funding any kind of project that absolutely discriminates against any population. AFFORDABLE People with disabilities frequently live…

Boston, MA: Boston Mayor Proclaimed July 26, 2012 ‘John B. Kelly Day’

July 30, 2012activism, advocacy, Americans with Disabilities Act, disability rights, john kelly, Our News & Commentary Blog, Second ThoughtsStephen Drake

…ervillians and especially BFF with Community Access Project Somerville and human rights defenders throughout Massachusetts, arrived at the Boston 22nd Anniversary Celebration of the signing of the ADA (Americans with DisAbilities Act) today- and immediately got to work. He had a table to organize (Second-Thoughts.org); people waiting for his answers on a number of other projects; and, he was also getting ready to participate in Boston Mayor Menino…

Carol Cleigh Sutton: We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident…

December 17, 2020ableism, aid in dying, assisted suicide, better dead than disabled, bioethics, Carol Cleigh Sutton, euthanasia, healthcare rationing, Our News & Commentary Blogbetter dead than disabled, euthanasia, nonvoluntary euthanasia, W. Carol CleighDiane Coleman

…y kills “the unproductive.” That is, until a good friend of his died. The truth is that the history of human civilization is a tension between two positions: hierarchy of value and equity of value. Either we value all human lives equally or we don’t. Many ideologies defend hierarchy, Divine Right to Social Darwinism to Utilitarianism have tried to normalize the rejection of equality. Of these, Social Darwinism and Utilitarianism seek to ‘perfect’…