Netherlands Doctors Approve Euthanizing 29-Year-Old Mentally Ill Woman. She Died Saturday.

https://goo.gl/k9Puud

On Saturday, a 29-year-old woman who suffered from severe mental illness was put to death in the Netherlands after euthanasia was approved by doctors. Aurelia Brouwers died in her own bed after having chosen to end her own life to escape the excruciating metal anguish she had suffered for years. She heard voices in her head, mutilated herself repeatedly and attempted suicide multiple times; she received permission for euthanasia after a struggle to get the state to approve of her dying.

Using a fictional name, Brouwers told RTL Nieuws, “"I think that after such a rotten life I am entitled to a dignified death.” She wrote on her blog:


Washington State May Make It Easier to Sterilize People With Disabilities

https://goo.gl/y16UXN

In 1936, Ann Cooper Hewitt filed a lawsuit against her mother — and with good reason. At the age of 20, her mother Ann had sterilized her against her will. Having succeeded in classifying her as having an intellectual disability, Ann’s mother was legally allowed to authorize the operation over Ann’s objections. Her mother’s lawyer responded by claiming that Ann’s sterilization had been “for society’s sake” due to the girl’s “erotic tendencies.

We’ve come a long way since the age of the eugenics movement, particularly when it comes to matters of reproductive choice and bodily autonomy. And yet, state laws still allow people with disabilities to be sterilized without their consent. Today the state of Washington is considering a proposal that the ACLU believes could expand the use of sterilization for individuals under guardianship.  Guardianship is a surprisingly common legal arrangement where a third-party is authorized to make virtually all decisions for a person with a disability.

Currently, state law fortunately prohibits guardians from authorizing sterilization without court approval — but the state judicial system is currently considering a proposal to create a form to more clearly articulate how guardians can request permission for this procedure. While the proposal is designed to clarify existing law, advocates with disabilities and the ACLU believe that creating this form will streamline the process and increase the number of guardians requesting the sterilization of those under their power.

Ivanova Smith, a new mother with a developmental disability, has written beautifully in the ACLU of Washington’s blog about how people with disabilities can become loving, responsible parents, if they so choose. People with disabilities should not be denied this choice. Given the unfortunate history of involuntary sterilization of people with disabilities across the country, states must take extra caution to avoid imposing sterilization against those who, for whatever reason, do not freely choose it. It is vital that we leave behind the days in which people with disabilities lacked reproductive choice.


DVP Interview: Gregg Beratan, Andrew Pulrang & Alice Wong

https://goo.gl/KkMwD5

The three co-partners of #CripTheVote, Gregg Beratan, Andrew Pulrang, and Alice Wong, recorded their oral history for the Disability Visibility Project™ on August 23, 2016 and uploaded it to the StoryCorps app.

The 2016 election was unprecedented in more ways than one. This oral history recalls the origins of #CripTheVote, a nonpartisan online movement activating and engaging disabled people on policies and practices important to the disability community.

Since this was a particularly long recording, below are 3 short audio clips with text transcripts. In the first clip, Gregg, Andrew, and Alice talk about the origins of #CripThe Vote during the 2016 Presidential election.

In the second clip, they talk about their social media activism on Twitter such as organized chats on disability issues, an online survey, and the creation of their hashtag.

In the third clip, they talk about the importance of intersectionality with #CripTheVote and how the disability community responded to the campaign.


THE FAIR HOUSING ACT AT 50

https://goo.gl/GrStmD

On April 11, 1968—seven days after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—President Lyndon Johnson signed into law Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act. The legislation was co-sponsored by then-Senators Edward Brooke and Walter Mondale and advanced an ambitious and progressive vision: to eliminate housing discrimination and residential segregation in this country. As envisioned, the Fair Housing Act is an important tool for achieving both justice and equity. In signing the bill, President Johnson proclaimed: “At long last, fair housing for all is now a part of the American way of life. We have come some of the way—not near all of it.

The year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act, as well as the 30th anniversary of the creation of the National Fair Housing Alliance. As the nation’s leading fair housing advocacy organization, NFHA is uniquely positioned to plan and lead the 50th Anniversary activities. Far more than a celebration, the year-long commemoration will move us closer to being a nation where fair housing and opportunity are the norm in all communities.

Fair housing is not just an important tool for eliminating discrimination; it also helps to strengthen families, communities, businesses, and our overall economy. Fulfillment of the letter and spirit of the law means that every community can be a place of opportunity where people can live in diverse, inclusive, accessible neighborhoods with quality schools, healthy foods, meaningful jobs, health care, green spaces, quality credit, and the other opportunities that frame and affect our lives.


Made in America, by Force

https://goo.gl/78nN52

How local industries rely on coerced labor.

Human trafficking is a major industry in the U.S., but one of the problems in identifying what it is is because it looks like many things to many people. In the Midwest, trafficking is dominant because of the intersection of federal interstates that easily transport victims through a circuit that can span all the major cities in just a week, spurred by online advertising that authorities say is difficult to stop. This new series will look at the sex trafficking of minors, labor trafficking found on major farm operations. A third story will look at how trafficking has hit Cook County, Illinois, the heart of Chicago, and how a local sheriff there has made stopping it one of his highest priorities.

There’s a good chance that the last egg you ate was produced by trafficked human labor, possibly involving workers who are underage.

Take Trillium Farms in Marion County, Ohio, which describes itself on its website as “one of the nation’s leading egg producers,” with a flock that produces “millions of safe, wholesome eggs each day.”

Federal authorities say that between 2011 and 2014, Trillium held contracts with a company that supplied workers who were mostly underage — some as young as 14 — to clean the company’s chicken coops, load and unload crates of chickens, and perform the grueling work of debeaking and vaccinating chickens.

The workers originated from Guatemala and were coerced by violence to travel to Ohio. Once settled, they lived in decrepit trailers and were forced over many years to work 12-hour days of harsh manual labor, according to federal court documents. As part of a conspiracy with the traffickers, the victims were isolated in every respect. Not only were they prevented from interacting with people outside their living quarters, but they also were forced to surrender their paychecks.