I’m a published writer, but lately the little I’ve been
writing all contains the phrase”as a disabled person, I…”which is hardly a
phrase that would gain me fame or fortune. Historically, we’ve had things
decided for us without a place at the table.That’s why I must urge Jeff Flake,
as my elected representative in the Senate, to consider the brilliant testimony of
disability advocate Liz Weintraub. A vote for Kavenaugh is a vote against my
bodily autonomy and self-determination, whether overtly, such as deciding that
someone else should make my healthcare decisions, or in more of a slow-motion
manner by undermining mechanisms, such as Medicaid, that provide healthcare in
the first place.
Judge Kavenaugh has shown that he does not care about the
rights that so many people(including
myself in some small ways) have fought so hard for, to live and work in
our communities and stay in our homes: to be full members of our families and
full and equal citizens. More than lesser concerns about secrecy and the hidden
elements of Kavenaugh’s life and record(such as the mysterious benefactor who
paid back all he owed for buying baseball tickets…may student-loan borrowers be
so fortunate one day), lack of respect for my personhood as a disabled American
woman has thrust me into this fight.
I understand that the odds are long, that a lot of shadowy
people with deep pockets are really hoping people like me tear our hair out for
sixty days. I also understand that, as someone whose upcoming birthday is
something of an accident anniversary, my whole life has been based around facing and surpassing long
odds, even if I’ve never “overcome” my impairment in the classic sense. Maybe
we can defend our nation the way we defended ACA…it seems like life-and-death
to me, a humble activist and ink-stained wretch…shouldn’t it to my Senator too?
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