Column: Obama should send strong disability rights message
July 2nd, 2009Writing in the Huffington Post, Nancy Lublin says it’s time for President Obama to step up as a global leader on disability rights and champion the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). An excerpt:
Not signing and ratifying the CRPD sends the message that while we protect our disabled, we don’t care if the rest of the world does too. If we feel strongly enough that our own citizens living with disabilities should be protected, shouldn’t we feel that those living in countries without such laws are entitled to rights and protection as well?
By signing and ratifying the CRPD, the U.S. will send a message to the world: Disability rights are essential for a fair and just world … and the United States wants to be a leader in protecting those ideals.
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July 17th, 2009 at 2:34 am
He never even mentioned the disability folk in his NAACP speech. His dismissal of the Disabled as inconsequential is a prejudice. Saying nothing gives permission.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I believe that it is true that Obama needs to sign and ratify the CRPD. Not only will this further commit the United States to find universal health care in the U.S., but we will readopt the message that we as U.S. citizens are a compassionate body. Remember, before any other nationality was persecuted, people with disabilities were persecuted. We need to stand up and increase our global standing in the world.