Bipartisan measure would take ‘retarded’ out of federal lexicon

The Hill reports as non-controversial a bill that would eliminate all references to the terms “mental retardation” and “mentally retarded individual” in federal law.

Known as Rosa’s Law, the bipartisan measure will be marked up in the Senate Health, Education and Pensions Committee this week. It is patterned after a Maryland statute that was passed unanimously last year.

Attention to the word “retard’s” hurtful consequences has taken off in recent years, thanks in part to the outspoken former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose son Trig has Down syndrome. Palin called for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to be fired earlier this year after he called liberal healthcare activists “f—–g retarded,” but she has been less forceful when conservatives such as talk radio show Rush Limbaugh have used the term.

The measure has 42 bipartisan co-sponsors in the Senate and 30 in the House. Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who introduced the bill, has said it “will not expand nor diminish services, rights or educational opportunities.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 at 8:45 pm and is filed under law, R-word. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.