‘A nod to Sarah Palin from someone who will never vote for her’
August 30th, 2008Harold Pollack, writing on huffingtonpost.com, salutes Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as one person to another touched by disability issues.
He says, however, that Palin is wrong in her desire to deny women the very reproductive choice she enjoyed: the choice of continuing or terminating a pregnancy upon receiving an unexpected prenatal diagnosis. An excerpt:
Governor Palin is also mistaken in her support for broader Republican social policies that make it harder for millions of Americans living with physical and cognitive disabilities to get the healthcare and social services they need. If you ask people living with disabilities and their families what they need from government, many will say that they need things Democrats would provide and Republicans would not. They need adequate Medicaid funding. They really need universal health care. And they really need protections for individuals with preexisting conditions.
… Then there are the schools. Many people with disabilities need special education and health services in schools. Democrats have fought for these things. Republicans typically oppose them. Less tangibly, persons with disabilities need an ethic of common provision in this country that is the antithesis of what conservatives and libertarians euphemistically call an ownership society.
All this is for another day. A tough election should not blind us to our common humanity. Anyone who walks the walk in the service of her personal beliefs deserves my friendship. So congratulations, Governor. You don’t come close to earning my vote, but you are welcome in my home, any time.
Harold Pollack is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and faculty chair of the Center for Health Administration Studies.
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September 1st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Ms Palin, I concur with your decsion to “have your baby.” You were 4 months pregnant? Now, I want to know after this life altering decision, what have you done to help families make the same decision? When I had my son 48 years ago, it altered my life forever. Now, if you say this is not the case for “you”, you are more out of the realm of the rest of us then I suspected. You have bear rugs, hunt, shoot guns, good for you! Now, tell us, what have you done for people with disabilities in Alaska????? You have so much money!!! Right? What a fraud you are, so sorry!! I wish the best for your family and for your baby. I suspect, your ambition far outweighs your family!
Judy
August 30th, 2008 at 9:23 am
If the buzz on the blogoshere is any indication, it could be VERY interesting to see how the campaign develops. It has been widely reported that when their son was born Palin & her husband took the opportunity to meet with the media and explain Down Syndrome. Good on them. As we all now know, she is also a vocal social conservative, strongly opposed to both abortion & same sex marriage.
Any effect Palin is likely to have would seem to be in potentially galvanizing the “right to life” constituency. If played well, adding her to the ticket could go a long way toward courting the right-wing base McCain has struggled with.
But this begs larger questions for the disabled community: how will left-leaning disabled folks handle it?
With the stakes being so high, and our nation being so polarized already,could the additional emphasis in this campaign embodied by Palin — and her stand on abortion in particular — become a wedge issue for many PWD’s akin to physician assisted suicide?
Out among the rank and file there already seems to be a division between more conservative mothers of children born with Down syndrome who are lining up on Palin’s side and those who would rather link disability to other social justice and progressive causes.
Having a child with Down syndrome is not, perhaps, the only criteria one should meet before they are considered a pro-disability candidate. Let’s hope the issue continues to be delved into deeply as Pollack does above.
Editor’s note: Lawrence Carter-Long is director of advocacy for the Disabilities Network of New York City.