[statecom-discuss] Ashley's Medical Treatment

[jturner at alum.rpi.edu]

> Jeff- some specifics - disabled folks have been sterilized for a long
time
>until pretty recently - you don't see why what was done to Ashley is
>sterilization? that is specifically what it was and that is a thread
through all
>of these articles.

God help us all if Ashley got pregnant. I don't see that sterilizing her
is a problem.

> the fact that there is a history of discrimination means that those of
us who
>are able-bodied have been generally shut out of the experience of
differently
>abled - and carry an inbred sense of superiority - so us thinking we
can making
>decisions for those we have been taught to experience as different from
and less
>than us is sinply an expression of that same superiority - it means we
are not
>in a position to be objective.

Ashley can't make any of her own decisions. We never let
three-month-olds make decisions for themselves. None.

> I included one of the these because it talks not about just the
history of but
>present time oppression - there is no distance to the slippery slope we
are
>already on it and trying to claw our way off of it in the right
direction.

I suppose we hit that when we started spaying and neutering pets, but
I'm willing to move down as far as Ashley.

> and I am not sure what you mean by contesting? We are not talking
about a law
>suit, we are talking about calling on the larger players to take
responsiblity
>for setting this situation up and letting it happen. If there were
plenty of
>help and services, and the parents really love Ashley, they would not
have done
>this. That means the restructuring of services that would have lead to
a
>different situation is a responsibility that falls on all of us....

Give me an itemized list of services we should provide for Ashley, with
as clear an estimate of costs as you can, and we can discuss this.

--Jeff