David Cameron’s son has disabilities

From the [UK] Daily Mail:

UK opposition leader David Cameron has made a highly personal defense of laws allowing the late abortion of babies with disabilities, and said it would be “wrong” to prevent a mother from terminating a pregnancy for that reason.

British law allows abortion after a 24-week limit if tests show the baby is likely to have “severe” disabilities. An excerpt:

The issue is extremely sensitive for Mr Cameron because his six-year-old son Ivan was born with a severe form of cerebral palsy and epilepsy and needs 24-hour care.

(Photo of Cameron with son Ivan from the Daily Mail)

From Politico.com:

Obama’s support for the Community Choice Act would seem to give him the edge with voters who have disabilities. But it’s not clear how many people with disabilities are actually voting on the basis of that identity. Historically, the voting patterns of people with disabilities tend to mirror the population as a whole.

Pollsters normally do not use disability as a demographic sub-group, so there is no publicly available data on the disability community’s leanings in this election, and both campaigns declined to discuss their internal polling. None of the independent pollsters or consultants contacted for this piece had ever polled disabled people or were aware of others having done so.

“I have never heard of anybody doing this,” said Brad Bannon, a Democratic pollster. “It would require asking very sensitive questions in a survey which would lead respondents to hang up.”

From MarketWatch:

Vital Signs columnist Kristen Gerencher says a broad coalition of disability rights and business groups has come together behind a measure to revise the ADA in the wake of  a series of Supreme Court decisions that severely narrowed the law’s definition of disability. The ironic effect of those decisions, Gerencher says, is that the people who most need protections under the ADA often can’t get them.

An excerpt:

That means many people who suffer from a chronic disease but manage their illness well aren’t considered disabled and therefore aren’t covered by the law — even if an employer fires or refuses to hire them because of their disease.

The courts’ decisions have resulted in a Catch-22 for people with a range of disabilities, including diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy and mental illness, said Jennifer Mathis, deputy legal director for the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law in Washington.

“You can be disabled enough to be fired but not disabled enough to sue,” she said.

By Mary Lynne Kelley in the Detroit Free Press:

I fear that McCain is too afraid to appear weak by acknowledging his disability and, as such, is poised to let down those Americans who face their own every day with bravery and dignity.

… A strange dichotomy exists that allows us to view John McCain as heroic for the injuries he sustained as a POW but weak for the resulting disability. Perhaps he is trying to conceal it out of concern for his electability.

… John McCain does not offer a disability policy. A search of the McCain Web site, JohnMcCain.com reveals no disability issue section. McCain’s health care proposals, Straight Talk on Health System Reform, make no mention of the word disabled or disability.

(Detroit Free Press photo)

By National Review Online editor Kathryn Jean Lopez:

John McCain could reshape the nation’s view of selective abortion and advance the cause of human rights by choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, Lopez says. He would also save some lives.

Palin is the Republican governor of Alaska who learned of her baby’s Down syndrome diagnosis during pregnancy and gave birth this year. Her website includes a page devoted to her son Trig with hundreds of welcoming comments from Americans across the nation.

Not only are children with Down syndrome people too, they inspire a deep love and enthusiastic appreciation. Especially in the face of a culture that wants to expunge them. According to a study cited in the New York Times last year, “About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion.” (Emphasis added by Lopez.) Most American women are given prenatal tests.

At 44, Governor Palin is a bit young and relatively new to the political scene yet. These are no small considerations when electing someone who could assume the role of president (Democrats: Check out your nominee with that reservation . . . ) If the youngest life [Palin] and her husband care for can wake up a nation that’s blind to the eugenics in its midst, a routine part of medicine today, she and John McCain would be offering human rights and dignity a great, honorable service. In contrast to Barack Obama, who would let the survivors of botched abortion attempts be killed, the Palins could serve as a great clarifier for voters this fall — and an education.

See an earlier article by Lopez, Defining life down, that references a column of mine, The abortion debate no one wants to have.

Also, Realclearpolitics.com says the odds against Palin as a vice presidential candidate are 75 to one.

She may be a reformer with fans inside the new righty generation, but no one’s ever heard of her, and as far as we can tell she hasn’t been in the same room with McCain for years. Plus, it’s Alaska, which is probably her biggest drawback.

(United Feature Syndicate photo.)

Commemorating the 18th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the campaigns of candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have released statements on disability issues.

McCain’s statement said he supports the House version of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and intends to support “a Senate version that adheres to the same principles.” McCain was a principal co-sponsor of the original ADA.

McCain stopped short of endorsing the Community Choice Act, saying:

“I will work to enact legislation that would build on the principles of the Money Follows the Person Initiative, while also keeping my commitment to a responsible budget. The offer of assistance in living with a disability should not come with the condition of perpetual confinement to an institutional setting. The great goal here should be to increase choices, to expand freedom, to open doors, and to allow citizens with disabilities to live where they want and to go where they wish.

Obama’s statement pledged support for the ADA Amendments Act and the Community Choice Act, as well as for full funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). His comprehensive agenda on disability issues can be found here.

(Photos from campaign websites.)

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

A bill signed recently by Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell will require private insurers to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, up to $36,000 annually, for those under 21. That includes coverage for applied behavioral analysis therapy.

Rendell and others who championed the issue believe Pennsylvania’s autism-insurance law is among the strongest in the country. They may be right, many autism advocates say.

Critics worry that the measure will create new problems.